Lifetime exposure to interparental physical and verbal aggression and symptom expression in college students

This study investigated relations between lifetime exposure to interparental aggression and (1) anxiety, depression, and anger; (2) interpersonal problems; and (3) symptoms of trauma, in a sample of young adults. Participants were 326 (219 female, 107 male) undergraduates from an eastern university. Participants reported on their demographic backgrounds, memories of interparental verbal and physical aggression, past experiences of severe stressors (including child physical and sexual abuse and community violence), and recent symptoms. Results demonstrate that exposure to interparental violence is associated with elevations in depression, anxiety, interpersonal problems, and trauma symptoms. Further analyses indicated that interparental verbal aggression predicted all symptom areas and was a stronger predictor than interparental violence. The impact of both forms of aggression was attenuated and in some cases negated by controlling for the effects of other severe stressors.