Does Coercive Process Play a Role in Teen Dating Violence?

Coercion theory posits that a vicious cycle of negative reinforcement traps both parents and children, shaping young children to become stably aggressive in conflicts with their parents. Research on intimate partner violence has found some evidence supporting the application of coercion theory in explaining aggressive escalation in adult conflicts as well. It is unclear whether the same processes are at play during teens’ early dating relationships. On the one hand, dating aggression emerges as soon as dating relationships do. On the other hand, we also know that if aggression presents extremely early in relationships, dissolution is the most likely path. We explored the role of coercion in 209 teen dating couples who were observed in a laboratory series of problem-solving discussions and analogue conflict tasks. All data were coded by trained coders blind to hypotheses. Analyses suggest that the negative reinforcement of hostility is indeed significantly associated with both psychological and physical aggression in an adolescent dating sample. Implications for prevention and intervention are discussed, as well as developmental processes that may contribute to dating aggression in light of our findings.