Modeling Daily Partner Violence and Substance Use Based upon Couple's Reporting.

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Computational Social Science
• Domestic Violence Research

Background:

• Agent-based models (ABMs) previously focused on women's reports for modeling intimate partner violence.
• Existing models lacked the inclusion of men's emotional states and perceptions as contributing factors.
• Understanding the triggers of violent events requires a more comprehensive approach.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance agent-based models (ABMs) of intimate partner violence by incorporating men's emotions and perceptions.
• To identify key factors influencing the emergence and patterns of violent events in relationships.
• To improve the understanding of the complex dynamics within violent relationships.

Main Methods:

• Developed an agent-based model (ABM) simulating couples with a history of violence.
• Utilized time-series data including daily reports of emotions and perceptions from both partners.
• Incorporated seven continuous variable parameters and assessed the impact of stress, feelings, and behaviors.

Main Results:

• No violence emerged in the model at baseline without extreme variable parameters.
• HerConcern→HerConcern (prior-day to same-day) was a significant factor in the ABM.
• Men's and women's alcohol use, men's sense of insult, and women's violence significantly impacted outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Incorporating men's perceptions into ABMs of partner violence yields different results than models based solely on women's input.
• Women's concerns about violence's impact on children were critical.
• The study demonstrated the complexity of partner violence, influenced by contextual dependence, interaction effects, and synergy.