Amy D Marshall | The Pennsylvania State University (original) (raw)

Papers by Amy D Marshall

Frontiers in Psychology

Exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV), including physical, sexual, and psychological violen... more Exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV), including physical, sexual, and psychological violence, aggression, and/or stalking, impacts overall health and can have lasting mental and physical health consequences. Substance misuse is common among individuals exposed to IPV, and IPV-exposed women (IPV-EW) are at-risk for transitioning from substance misuse to substance use disorder (SUD) and demonstrate greater SUD symptom severity; this too can have lasting mental and physical health consequences. Moreover, brain injury is highly prevalent in IPV-EW and is also associated with risk of substance misuse and SUD. Substance misuse, mental health diagnoses, and brain injury, which are highly comorbid, can increase risk of revictimization. Determining the interaction between these factors on the health outcomes and quality of life of IPV-EW remains a critical need. This narrative review uses a multidisciplinary perspective to foster further discussion and research in this area by examini...

Supplemental material, Table_S1 for Concordance of Reports of Intimate Partner Violence Across Pa... more Supplemental material, Table_S1 for Concordance of Reports of Intimate Partner Violence Across Partners and Measures: The Impact of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder by Amy D. Marshall, Alexandra C. Mattern and Jennifer D. Wong in Assessment

Family Process, 2021

Early childhood is critical to the development of children's social–emotional competence, whi... more Early childhood is critical to the development of children's social–emotional competence, which predicts peer relations and school adjustment in later periods of childhood. The effects of experiencing or witnessing aggression on children's social–emotional development are well known, yet the role of conflict resolution within the family has not been sufficiently studied. Social information processing models suggests that children who experience positive forms of conflict resolution within the family are likely to generalize these experiences and related skills outside the family, and thus develop greater social–emotional competence. In this longitudinal study, 128 parents (representing 79 families) participated in four quarterly telephone interviews in which they described aggressive conflicts that occurred in their family for which their children were present, including the degree to which each conflict was resolved. They also reported on the frequency of intimate partner a...

Journal of Traumatic Stress, 2011

Exposure to potentially traumatic events often leads to a wide range of interpersonal difficultie... more Exposure to potentially traumatic events often leads to a wide range of interpersonal difficulties, including the perpetration of intimate partner violence. Maladaptive, threat‐relevant thoughts and beliefs regarding the trauma or its sequelae can play an important role in a person's emotional and behavioral responses. Among 185 trauma‐exposed study participants who were currently in an intimate relationship, levels of maladaptive posttraumatic cognitions were associated with the perpetration of psychological aggression and physical violence in their current relationships. These links were mediated by misappraisal of anger in auditory emotion stimuli and emotion‐regulation deficits. Results support a cognitive model of posttraumatic pathology, with implications for clinical intervention and a broad conceptualization of the effects of trauma.

Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 2019

Lack of perceived social support is one of the strongest correlates of the development and mainte... more Lack of perceived social support is one of the strongest correlates of the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, little is known about observed social support and PTSD. The stress buffering effect of social support may be partly determined by the subjective experience of support, which is created by attributions regarding support behaviors. We examined negative attributions about partner-provided support as a moderator of the expected relation between observed support during couple discussions and PTSD symptom severity. Participants included 128 individuals from 64 heterosexual married or cohabitating couples. Per clinician-administered interview, 72 (56%) participants met subthreshold or diagnostic criteria for PTSD. Receipt of relatively more partner support was modestly associated with lower PTSD symptom severity. Negative causal attributions about partner support were not associated with the amount of support received, but were associated with higher PTSD severity. Additionally, the frequency and quality of received partner support was associated with lower PTSD symptom severity only among those who did not make strong negative causal attributions about partner support. Thus, negative causal attributions may dampen the positive effects of social support on PTSD symptoms. PTSD treatments may more effectively facilitate recovery from trauma by decreasing negative support attributions.

Couple & family psychology, 2021

The high rates of intimate partner aggression (IPA) among new parents may be partly due to change... more The high rates of intimate partner aggression (IPA) among new parents may be partly due to changes in couples' division of household labor and childcare, which disproportionately negatively impact women. This is the first study to examine the association between division of labor dissatisfaction and IPA perpetration across genders, while also examining whether such dissatisfaction is specifically associated with IPA during conflicts about division of labor issues. Quarterly for one year, 109 women and 94 men from 111 couples with a first-born child approximately 32 months of age at study commencement described each incident of IPA that occurred during the quarter, including conflict topics and number of aggressive acts perpetrated. Division of labor and childcare comprised the largest portion (30%) of IPA conflict topics. Division of labor dissatisfaction at child age 24 months was positively associated with women's, but not men's, IPA perpetration during conflicts about...

We examined the impact of PTSD symptom severity on emotional reactions to one’s own and one’s par... more We examined the impact of PTSD symptom severity on emotional reactions to one’s own and one’s partner’s intimacy behaviors. Heterosexual, community couples in which at least one partner reported elevated symptoms of PTSD were video-recorded discussing a relationship problem and self-reported their emotions immediately before and after the discussion. Each partner’s intimacy behaviors were coded. Actor–Partner Interdependence Models indicate that, among those with greater PTSD symptom severity, partners’ caring, understanding, and validation were associated with increased negative emotions, particularly fear. Among those with greater PTSD severity, provision of caring was associated with

Intimate partner violence includes psychological aggression, physical violence, sexual violence, ... more Intimate partner violence includes psychological aggression, physical violence, sexual violence, and stalking from a current or former intimate partner. Experiencing intimate partner violence is associated with impaired neurocognitive and psychosocial functioning, mental illness, as well as structural brain alterations. These impairments seem to be compounded by exposure to physical trauma to the head. Importantly, up to 90% of women exposed to intimate partner violence also experience some form of head trauma or even repetitive head trauma. However, research on this topic is sparse, and the neurobehavioral and neurobiological effects of head trauma in this population have not been systematically investigated. A key aim of the Enhancing Neuroimaging and Genetics through Meta-Analysis Consortium Intimate Partner Violence Working Group is to provide recommendations for the harmonization of measures collected to facilitate the meta-analysis of neuropsychological, neuroimaging, and gene...

Journal of Family Psychology, 2019

Despite children's frequent exposure to psychological and physical intimate partner aggressio... more Despite children's frequent exposure to psychological and physical intimate partner aggression (IPA) and associated long-term consequences, little is known about children's immediate, within-incident reactions to IPA. Additionally, differences in reactions to IPA based on exposure to within-incident "spillover" of aggression across interparental and parent-child dyads have previously remained unexamined. Parents of children age 2.5 years at study commencement (N = 203 from 111 families) reported on incidents of family aggression four times for 1 year. Among select IPA incidents with the child present (n = 163 incidents from 73 families), IPA severity and children's exposure to aggression spillover were uniquely associated with children's expression of greater fear. Moreover, children unexposed to spillover experienced high fear only during relatively severe IPA incidents, whereas spillover-exposed children experienced high fear regardless of IPA severity (supporting observations of fear reactivity in response to low-level threats). Additionally, IPA severity positively predicted, and spillover exposure negatively predicted, children's attempts to make peace or solve the problem for their parents. Further, spillover-exposed children were more likely to withdraw or attempt to make peace during relatively more severe incidents of IPA. Thus, spillover-exposed children may manage their fear during relatively severe IPA incidents by withdrawing and/or engaging in active peacemaking behaviors but not by using other methods that may increase risk of aggression turning toward them. These results extend existing research, illustrate the unique predictive value of within-incident aggression spillover, and provide a foundation for understanding mechanisms through which IPA affects children in a diversity of ways. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychology of sexual orientation and gender diversity, 2017

Sexual orientation-related discrimination is common among sexual minority individuals, but its in... more Sexual orientation-related discrimination is common among sexual minority individuals, but its influence on romantic relationship functioning remains unclear. Further, exposure to potentially traumatic events may influence the association between discrimination and relationship functioning, but this has not been tested among sexual minority couples to date. The current study examines breadth of lifetime trauma exposure as a moderator of the associations between recent discrimination and changes in relationship functioning (satisfaction, commitment, and trust) over twelve months among 86 racially/ethnically diverse sexual minority young adults in relationships. For those with low trauma exposure, discrimination was associated with increases in satisfaction and commitment, but not trust. In contrast, for those with high trauma exposure, discrimination was not associated with changes in relationship functioning. Thus, some partnered sexual minority young adults may experience resilienc...

Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy, Jan 3, 2018

Large numbers of United States service members and veterans are enrolling in colleges and univers... more Large numbers of United States service members and veterans are enrolling in colleges and universities. Many are experiencing posttraumatic stress symptoms secondary to their military service, and these symptoms are associated with academic dysfunction. However, little is known about the mechanism(s) through which posttraumatic stress increases risk for academic difficulties. The goal of the current study was to evaluate perceived interpersonal relationship quality as a mediator of this association. The current study investigated the indirect effect of posttraumatic stress on academic dysfunction through three indices of perceived interpersonal relationship quality (i.e., family distress, family support, and social network support) in a clinical sample of 2,120 student service members and veterans. Participants were further divided into four groups based on relationship status and gender (i.e., partnered women, nonpartnered women, partnered men, and nonpartnered men), and moderation...

Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43), Jan 7, 2018

Trauma exposure is a consistent correlate of intimate partner aggression (IPA) and parent-to-chil... more Trauma exposure is a consistent correlate of intimate partner aggression (IPA) and parent-to-child aggression (PCA) perpetration, and difficulties with emotions (particularly fear and anger) are hypothesized to underlie these relations. However, the absence of knowledge of the immediate, contextual influence of emotions on aggression renders existing conclusions tenuous. This study illustrates a new method for studying contextual influences on aggressive behavior. Quarterly for 1 year, 94 men and 109 women with children age 2.5 years at study commencement were interviewed to measure the sequence of behaviors during aggressive incidents as well as the intensity of their emotions immediately prior to initiation of aggression. Within aggressive incidents, the number of acts of men's PCA was predicted by men's greater fear, anger, and trauma exposure, and the positive association between men's trauma exposure and PCA perpetration was especially strong under conditions of hig...

Psychiatry Research, 2014

We evaluated the specific version of the PTSD Checklist (PCL-S) as a screening tool for the recru... more We evaluated the specific version of the PTSD Checklist (PCL-S) as a screening tool for the recruitment of community-residing men and women with diverse trauma experiences. We administered the PCL-S via telephone in the context of participant recruitment, as well as in a laboratory setting preceding administration of the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), the gold standard PTSD assessment tool. In the laboratory, the PCL-S performed reasonably well for men and women, yielding overall diagnostic efficiency (ODE) values (representing percentage of cases accurately identified) of 0.78 and 0.73, respectively, for our recommended cut-points of 42 for men and 49 for women. In contrast, as a recruitment tool, the PCL-S yielded an acceptable ODE of 0.79 for men at the recommended cut-point of 47, but only an ODE of 0.56 (representing diagnostic efficiency no greater than chance) for women at the recommended cut-point of 50. A recruitment cut-point of 57 for women yields a similarly modest ODE of 0.61, but with substantial cost to sensitivity. These findings suggest that use of the PCL-S to screen for PTSD among potential study participants may lead to gender biased study results, even when separate diagnostic cut-points for men and women are used.

Journal of Traumatic Stress, 2013

Individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experience elevated concerns about their ca... more Individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experience elevated concerns about their capacity to control, and the consequences of, strong emotions that occur in response to trauma reminders. Anxiety is theorized to compromise attentional control (Eysenck, Derakshan, Santos, & Calvo, 2007). In turn, diminished attentional control may increase vulnerability to threat cues and emotional reactivity (Ehlers & Clark, 2001). Consequently, attentional control may play a role in the fear of emotions frequently experienced by individuals with PTSD. Study participants included 64 men and 64 women with a mean age of 37 years, 86% of whom were White, non-Hispanic. Participants experienced an average of 7.68 types of traumatic events, most commonly including motor vehicle accidents and intimate partner violence. PTSD symptoms positively correlated with fear of emotions (r = .53) and negatively correlated with attentional control (r = −.38). Attentional control was negatively correlated with fear emotions (r = −.77) and partially mediated the link between PTSD and fear of emotions (R 2 = .22). Given the findings regarding top-down attentional control, these results have implications for cognitive and emotional processing theories of PTSD and emphasize the importance of clinical consideration of fear of emotions and attentional control in the treatment of PTSD. Cognitive processing biases are fundamental to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). One such bias is anxiety sensitivity (i.e., negative evaluation and fear of anxiety-related symptoms due to their potential consequences; Elwood, Hahn, Olatunji, & Williams, 2009). Because PTSD is characterized by a broader array of emotions, research on fear of emotions may be more informative because it defines fear of all strong emotions and one's capacity to control or respond adaptively to such emotions (Williams, Chambless, & Ahrens, 1997). Although PTSD symptoms and fear of emotions positively correlate (e.g., Tull, Jakupcak, McFadden, & Roemer, 2007), mechanisms for their relation have not been explicated. Eysenck et al.'s (2007) attentional control theory posits that anxiety impairs attentional control (i.e., the ability to focus and shift attention). Anxiety is theorized to increase influence of the stimulus-driven attentional system that is triggered by perceived threat and decrease influence of the goal-directed system that strategically avoids threat (Eysenck et

Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 2011

Measures of head injury, executive functioning, and intelligence were given to a community sample... more Measures of head injury, executive functioning, and intelligence were given to a community sample composed of 102 male perpetrators of intimate partner aggression (IPA) and 62 nonaggressive men. A history of head injury and lower mean score on a measure of verbal intelligence were associated with the frequency of male-perpetrated physical IPA as reported by male perpetrators and their female partners. Lower mean scores on a measure of verbal intelligence also predicted frequency of psychological IPA perpetration. Using the perpetrator subtypes outlined by Holtzworth-Munroe et al. (2000), analyses revealed that compared with other groups, the most severely aggressive subtypes (i.e., borderline-dysphoric and generally violent-antisocial) were the most likely to report a history of head injury and to have significantly lower mean scores on a neuropsychological test of verbal intelligence. The possible role of neuropsychological factors in IPA perpetration and implications for prevention and intervention programs are discussed. Male aggression against intimate female partners is a major public health problem, with approximately 1.5 million women physically assaulted and ⁄ or raped by an intimate male partner in the United States annually (National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 2003). The deleterious effects of physical and psychological intimate partner aggression (IPA) in intimate relationships are well established in the research literature (Campbell, 2002). A large research base has identified numerous risk factors that differentiate aggressive from nonaggressive male partners, such as socioeconomic status, education, history of abuse or exposure to violence in childhood, elevated levels of anger and hostility, psychopathology, substance abuse,

Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 2011

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may produce internal "threats to the self," which generate s... more Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may produce internal "threats to the self," which generate shame. Shame is theoretically and empirically linked to intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. We examined relations among PTSD, cognitive processing of shame-relevant information, and IPV perpetration. Forty-seven community participants completed an emotional Stroop task with shame-relevant and neutral words. Stimuli were presented supraliminally (i.e., until vocal response) and subliminally (i.e., below an individualized threshold of conscious awareness). Facilitated color-naming of shame-relevant words (thought to reflect congruence between shame and self-schemas) mediated the relation between PTSD severity and IPV perpetration frequency. Mediation results for subliminal stimuli suggest that biased processing of shame cues may occur preconsciously and potentially catalyze processes (i.e., expectations of rejection in ambiguous situations with one's partner; avoidance that minimizes discomfort and protects self-image) that lead to IPV perpetration. Psychotherapeutic approaches to PTSD and IPV should consider the role of facilitated processing of shame cues.

Biological Psychology, 2013

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with problems in intimate relationships, partl... more Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with problems in intimate relationships, partly due to deficits in social cognition. In this study, the role of arginine vasopressin (AVP) in the link between PTSD and partner-specific social cognition was examined. Participants were 24 individuals from 12 heterosexual couples in which at least one partner exhibited clinically significant PTSD symptoms. Attention to partner expressions of anger was examined as an indicator of distress and need for affiliative behaviors to repair the relationship bond. AVP administration improved the speed of men's attentional engagement with their partners' expressions of anger and alleviated the negative impact of PTSD on this social cognitive process. Further, men's morning urinary AVP levels were negatively correlated with their PTSD severity. No such effects were found among women or for attention to unfamiliar men's or women's anger expressions. Thus, the AVP system may function in the relationship problems associated with PTSD.

Journal of anxiety disorders, Jan 17, 2014

We examined the impact of PTSD symptom severity on emotional reactions to one's own and one&#... more We examined the impact of PTSD symptom severity on emotional reactions to one's own and one's partner's intimacy behaviors. Heterosexual, community couples in which at least one partner reported elevated symptoms of PTSD were video-recorded discussing a relationship problem and self-reported their emotions immediately before and after the discussion. Each partner's intimacy behaviors were coded. Actor-Partner Interdependence Models indicate that, among those with greater PTSD symptom severity, partners' caring, understanding, and validation were associated with increased negative emotions, particularly fear. Among those with greater PTSD severity, provision of caring was associated with decreased anger, guilt, and sadness. Therefore, the receipt of intimacy was associated with increased negative emotions among individuals with elevated PTSD symptoms while provision of intimacy was associated with decreased negative emotions. Existing treatments for PTSD should co...

Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 2014

Child abuse survivors often exhibit long-standing maladaptive beliefs. Sexual risk-taking could c... more Child abuse survivors often exhibit long-standing maladaptive beliefs. Sexual risk-taking could contribute to the maintenance of such beliefs by reinforcing cognitions that originally resulted from child abuse. In this study, 64 community women, most with elevated posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, completed measures of childhood abuse, sexual risk-taking, and posttraumatic cognitions. Age of first consensual sexual intercourse mediated the relationship between childhood physical abuse and maladaptive posttraumatic cognitions in adulthood. Thus, age of sexual intercourse initiation might play an important role in women's recovery from childhood physical abuse. Clinicians should consider the possible impact of women's sexual history when challenging their cognitions during trauma-based cognitive behavioral therapy. Further, decreasing risky sexual behavior might partially protect against the negative effects of trauma.

Behavior Therapy, 2011

Low concordance of reports across partners has consistently been observed when partners report th... more Low concordance of reports across partners has consistently been observed when partners report the frequency of intimate partner violence (IPV) and psychological aggression (PA) in their relationship. Researchers have been unsuccessful in the quest to discover systematic biases across reporters, perhaps due to examining constructs that are not the source of bias (e.g., gender, victim/ perpetrator status) or examining potentially fruitful constructs using underpowered statistics or erroneous conceptualizations (e.g., examining variables at a dyadic, rather than an individual, level). We used multilevel modeling with two samples (Ns = 88 and 164 couples) to examine husbands' and wives' relationship satisfaction as individual-level correlates of husband and wifeperpetrated IPV and PA reporting concordance. Consistent with prior literature, low to moderate levels of agreement were observed, and gender and victim/perpetrator status were not consistently associated with reporting concordance. In contrast, for both husbands and wives, relationship satisfaction was associated with reporting concordance such that high relationship satisfaction was related to reporting less of one's partner's PA than the partner reported, whereas low relationship satisfaction was related to reporting more of one's partner's PA than the partner reported. A similar pattern of results emerged for the reporting of IPV, but results did not cross validate between samples. These findings suggest that relationship satisfaction may lead to either reluctance, or increased willingness, to attribute negative relationship events to partner behavior, potentially due to partner blame and relationship schemas. In addition, the influence of individuallevel factors may be occluded when aggregated across partners to examine correlates of interpartner reporting concordance.