Hormonal Differences in Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators When They Cope with Acute Stress: A Pilot Study

Ángel Romero-Martínez, Mari-Carmen Blanco-Gandía, Marta Rodriguez-Arias, Marisol Lila and Luis Moya-Albiol
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Ángel Romero-Martínez: Department of Psychobiology, University of Valencia, 46010 València, Spain
Mari-Carmen Blanco-Gandía: Department of Psychology and Sociology, University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Marta Rodriguez-Arias: Department of Psychobiology, University of Valencia, 46010 València, Spain
Marisol Lila: Department of Social Psychology, University of Valencia, 46010 València, Spain
Luis Moya-Albiol: Department of Psychobiology, University of Valencia, 46010 València, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 11, 1-14

Abstract: Background: Only a few studies have paid attention to the ability of perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPVAW) against women to cope with acute stress, including hormonal parameters. In fact, previous studies assessed how salivary testosterone (Tsal) and cortisol (Csal) changed after coping with an acute emotional stressor (directly related to IPVAW), and they concluded that an imbalance between the two hormones might be characteristic of these men. Nevertheless, they neglected to examine the role of other hormones, such as salivary oxytocin (OXsal), which also seemed to play an important role in behavioral regulation, and whether this response could be generalized to other types of stress not directly related to IPVAW. Methods: This study aims to assess whether IPVAW perpetrators ( n = 19) present differential hormonal (Tsal, Csal, OXsal and their ratios) and psychological state (anxiety, anger, and general affect) responses when coping with an acute cognitive laboratory stressor (a set of neuropsychological tests performed in front of an expert committee) in comparison with non-violent men ( n = 16). This quasi-experimental study also assessed whether the psychological state variables drive this different hormonal response. Results: Our results revealed that IPVAW perpetrators had lower Csal and higher Tsal/Csal ratio levels during the post-task period, as well as higher total levels (average) of OXsal than controls. We also found that, only in IPVAW perpetrators, high levels of baseline anxiety and negative affect were related to high rises in Csal during the stress task. Conclusions: These data present a background showing that IPVAW perpetrators and non-violent men cope differently with stress. These findings might help to identify idiosyncratic profiles of IPVAW perpetrators that can then be employed to establish their therapeutic needs. Moreover, we reinforced the importance of combining biological markers with self-reports, thus increasing the reliability of these forensic assessments.

Keywords: acute stress; cortisol; intimate partner violence; oxytocin; testosterone (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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