(PS1-D78) Cyber Abuse Victimization in Adult Romantic Relationships: is It Bidirectional Too?

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health issue that includes physical, psychological, and sexual forms of abuse (Anderson et al., 2020). IPV also includes cyber abuse perpetrated through cell phones and computers. Cyber abuse is common in romantic relationships and is associated with poor relationship satisfaction and mental health problems in victims (Leisring & Giumetti, 2014; Zweig et al., 2013). Researchers established long ago that physical partner abuse is often bidirectional with both partners perpetrating aggression (Straus & Gelles, 1980). However, the frequency with which cyber abuse in relationships is bidirectional has not been established. The purpose of the present study was to examine patterns of cyber abuse in romantic relationships and their associations with distress symptoms. The sample included 137 heterosexual women over the age of 25 in romantic relationships. Participants were recruited from MTurk and 74% of the women reported cyber abuse in their current relationship. Cyber abuse was measured using the Cyber Aggression in Relationships Scale (Watkins et al., 2018) which assesses psychological cyber abuse (e.g., sent threatening/harassing messages to one’s partner); sexual cyber abuse (e.g., pressured one’s partner to send sexual/naked photos), and stalking cyber abuse (e.g., sent repeated messages or texts asking about partner’s location or activities). Of the 101 women reporting that cyber abuse had occurred in their relationship 77% reported that both partners in their relationship had perpetrated cyber abuse, 17% reported that they had been the sole perpetrators of cyber abuse in their relationship, and 6% reported that their male partners had been the sole perpetrators of cyber abuse. Patterns of abuse were also examined for subtypes of cyber abuse. Bidirectional abuse was the most common pattern of both psychological cyber abuse and stalking cyber abuse followed by woman-only perpetration. However, ¾ of women who indicated that sexual cyber abuse had occurred in their relationship indicated that the sexual cyber abuse was perpetrated only by their male partners. Bidirectional abuse was the second most common pattern for sexual cyber abuse.

              In the current study, women in relationships with bidirectional cyber abuse reported significantly more stress, depression, and anxiety on the Depression, Stress, and Anxiety Scale (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995) than women in relationships with unidirectional cyber abuse. Thus, bidirectional cyber abuse is common, and it may be more damaging than other patterns of abuse. Attention to the interactional nature of cyber abuse appears key in non-sexual forms of abuse.

              While data collection for this study ended right before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is important to note that IPV perpetration is associated with stress and it increases during times of emergencies and humanitarian crises (Moreira & Pinto Da Costa, 2020). Examining patterns of partner violence is important in furthering our understanding of IPV and this has implications for interventions both in times of emergencies as well as in times of relative calm. Examination of perpetration and victimization of cyber forms of abuse should be included in assessment and intervention efforts for IPV.