Retain, Perceive, Respond. The Violence-Response Model in Cyber Dating Abuse Among Young Couples

Cyber dating abuse is an emerging yet harmful mate retention tactic used for relationship maintenance, similar to intimate partner violence. While mutual violence in cyber dating abuse has been documented, its mechanisms remain unclear. Therefore, based on evolutionary theory, the current study proposed a dyadic violence-response model to investigate the interactions in cyber dating abuse. The current study first examined the prevalence of mutual violence and gender differences among 203 heterosexual couples (n = 406, M_age = 20.83 years, SD = 2.07) in China through snowball sampling. Jealousy and anxious attachment were included as key factors of mate retention willingness to validate the violence-response model through an actor-partner interdependence mediation model (APIMeM) framework. Additionally, the current study also checked the potential reporting biases in cyber dating abuse. The results indicated that mutual violence is common in cyber dating abuse, with women reporting a higher prevalence of perpetration. Both partners' mate retention willingness positively predicted the mutual violence in cyber dating abuse. There were low reporting agreements between couples, but there were no significant reporting preferences. Cyber dating abuse is an integrated relationship violence, requiring more cross-field research. A healthy attitude toward the Internet and love would help decrease mutual violence in cyber dating abuse. The violence-response model would offer new insights and directions for understanding mutual violence in cyber dating abuse, facilitating future research and interventions.