Verbal aggression in adult relationships linked to fathers’ behavior and adolescent friendships, 20-year study finds

A 20-year longitudinal study has found that verbal aggression in adult romantic relationships is best predicted by the level of verbal aggression participants’ fathers directed toward their mothers, as well as by intense conflicts with close friends during adolescence. The research was published in Development and Psychopathology.

Verbal aggression is a form of communication that includes insults, yelling, threats, or hostile language intended to hurt or control others. It can occur in all types of interpersonal relationships, including families, friendships, workplaces, and romantic partnerships. Verbal aggression often leads to emotional distress and damaged relationships. While it does not involve physical harm, it can be just as detrimental to mental health, contributing to anxiety, low self-esteem, and emotional trauma.

Individuals who experience or witness frequent verbal aggression—particularly during childhood or adolescence—may be more likely to exhibit it in their own relationships later in life. Previous research has shown that verbal aggression and hostile marital conflict in one’s family of origin can predict future romantic conflict.

Study author Joseph P. Allen and his colleagues conducted a 20-year longitudinal study to deepen scientific understanding of the roots of adult romantic conflict by examining the impact of verbal aggression between participants’ parents and intense conflicts with close friends during adolescence.

They hypothesized that verbal aggression between participants’ parents would predict the participants’ own verbal aggression in their future romantic relationships. They also believed that intense conflicts within adolescent friendships would further contribute to this prediction.

The study included 154 seventh and eighth graders from a larger longitudinal project, all of whom had available data on verbal aggression between their parents. These participants were followed from age 13 to 33. Of the total, 69 were female. Participants were drawn from both suburban and urban populations in the Southeastern United States.

Researchers collected data on verbal aggression between participants’ parents (mother and father ratings of each other, taken when participants were aged 13–17), verbal aggression in the participants’ romantic relationships (assessed between ages 24–33), intense conflicts in close friendships during adolescence (ages 13–17), physical aggression between parents, parental verbal and physical aggression directed toward the adolescent, and various other relevant factors.

Results showed that participants who reported higher levels of verbal aggression in their adult romantic relationships were more likely to have grown up in homes where fathers displayed higher levels of verbal aggression toward mothers. These individuals also tended to report more intense conflicts with close friends during adolescence.

Interestingly, those who reported greater verbal aggression in their adult relationships were also more likely to come from higher-income families and from racial or ethnic minority backgrounds. Additionally, they tended to have spent less of their childhood living with both parents—often coming from single-parent households.

Further analysis revealed that the father’s verbal aggression toward the mother predicted verbal aggression in the participant’s adult romantic relationships only among those who also experienced intense conflicts with close friends during adolescence.

“Results indicate the critical importance of exposure to aggression and conflict within key horizontal relationships in adolescence,” the study authors concluded.

The study makes an important contribution to the scientific understanding of the links between verbal aggression in adulthood and childhood experiences. However, it should be noted that the study data was all self-reported leaving room for reporting bias to affect the results.

The paper, “Unique roles of adolescents’ friends and fathers in predicting verbal aggression in future adult romantic relationships,” was authored by Joseph P. Allen, Meghan A. Costello, Corey Pettit, Natasha A. Bailey, and Jessica A. Stern.