Exploring cross-day associations among intimate partner violence victimization, relationship investment, and perpetration among undergraduate men and women: A daily diary approach.

Objective: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is prevalent in college dating relationships, with bidirectional violence most common. Some studies have suggested that investment model constructs (low relationship investment, satisfaction, or commitment, and high quality of alternatives to the relationship) might serve as risk factors for IPV perpetration. The present study builds on existing literature by using an online diary methodology to assess whether prior-day victimization, perpetration, and investment model variables predict next-day physical and psychological IPV perpetration, as well as whether gender moderates these associations. Method: Undergraduates currently in relationships (n = 827; 32.6% men) completed 20 days of online daily questionnaires assessing day-level IPV perpetration and victimization and investment model variables. Results: Using multilevel logistic models, psychological IPV perpetration was predicted by the presence of prior-day physical IPV perpetration and the absence of prior-day physical and psychological victimization; person-level investment model variables were not associated with psychological perpetration. By contrast, prior-day physical perpetration was positively associated with next-day physical perpetration among women, and negatively associated among men. Person-level decreases in relationship satisfaction and increases in perceived relationship alternatives were associated with day-level increases in physical perpetration. Conclusions: The pattern of results predicting psychological and physical perpetration differs from prior research across longer assessment periods, suggesting the need for continued exploration of nuanced associations between victimization and perpetration.