Violence and Victims, Volume 22, Number 2, 2007

Borderline and Antisocial Personality

Scores as Mediators Between
Attachment and Intimate Partner
Violence
Anne Marie Mauricio, PhD
Jenn-Yun Tein, PhD
Arizona Prevention Research Center
Arizona State University

Frederick G. Lopez, PhD

University of Houston, TX
Court-mandated male batterers (n = 192) attending an intervention program completed
measures examining adult attachment orientations (anxious and avoidant), personality
disorders (borderline and antisocial), type of violence (psychological and physical), and
social desirability. Structural equation modeling was used to determine whether there
were significant relationships between anxious attachment and physical and psychological
violence that are mediated by either borderline or antisocial personality disorders. Social
desirability was included in both models as a covariate. Results indicated that personality
disorders fully mediated the relationship between avoidant attachment and physical as well
as psychological violence. Personality disorders only partially mediated the relationship
between anxious attachment and psychological violence. Implications for intervention are
discussed.

Keywords: etiology; batterer; intervention; borderline personality disorder; antisocial

personality disorder

he recognition of intimate partner violence (IPV) as a serious and pervasive

problem has prompted research exploring factors contributing to such violence.
The urgency to attend to IPV is further highlighted by findings that it permeates
every race, religion, social class, and educational level (Bureau of Justice Statistics,
1995; National Institute of Justice, 1998, 2000; Straus & Gelles, 1986). Research
exploring the origins of IPV has identified a wide range of predictors that account
for IPV against women (Schumacher, Feldbau-Kohn, Smith Slep, & Heyman, 2001;
Schumacher, Smith Slep, & Heyman, 2001). Adult attachment characteristics and personality disorders are two predictors of IPV that have received increasing attention in
recent years.

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IPV AND ADULT ATTACHMENT

Attachment theory provides a rich conceptual framework for understanding IPV.
Attachment theory (Bowlby, 1973, 1980, 1982) posits that, for the purpose of safety
and survival, humans are innately driven to seek attachments or close enduring emotional bonds with others. Moreover, through attachment processes, individuals develop
an internalized set of beliefs about self and other, known as internal working models
(Bowlby, 1973, 1988). The internal working model of self influences ones perceptions
about his or her self-worth, competence, and lovability, whereas the working model
of other is responsible for expectations about the availability and trustworthiness of
others.
When caregivers are available and consistently responsive during childhood, secure
attachments and corresponding positive internal working models of self and other
develop and promote healthy developmental trajectories and relationship patterns
(Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978). By contrast, disruptions in the parentchild
bond are the precursors to insecure attachment and corresponding negative models of
self and/or others, thus promoting maladaptive relationship patterns that can continue to
regulate relationship behavior into adulthood. Specifically, attachment theory maintains
that insecurely attached individuals, compared with securely attached individuals, demonstrate more anxiety, avoidance, or both characteristics in their intimate relationships
(Fraley & Waller, 1998).
Research supports the conceptualization of attachment as a two-dimensional structure
(Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991; Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998; Brennan & Shaver,
1995; Lopez & Brennan, 2000). The first dimension (i.e., attachment avoidance) is characterized by a pervasive discomfort with intimate closeness and a strong orientation toward
self-reliant and counterdependent relationship behavior. The second dimension (i.e.,
attachment anxiety) is represented by low self-esteem, pervasive fears of partner rejection
and abandonment, and dependent relationship behavior. Whereas the avoidant dimension
is closely related with a negative model of others, a negative model of self is associated
with anxious attachment.
Attachment theory has been proposed as a conceptual framework for understanding interpersonal dynamics in adult relationships (Hazan & Shaver, 1987), including
relationship violence (Bowlby, 1984; Dutton, 1995; Fonagy, 1999; Mayseless, 1991).
For example, given their low self-esteem and fears of rejection, adults with an anxious
attachment orientation who perceive their intimate partner as unavailable may respond to
this distress by engaging in overt expressions of anger and manipulation targeted toward
keeping their partner engaged in the relationship. On the other hand, given their generally hostile interpersonal orientation and negative models of others, avoidantly attached
adults may be more distressed by fears of engulfment and partner assertion and more
disposed to use violence and other abusive strategies to control and intimidate their partners (Mayseless, 1991). Research exploring associations between adult insecure attachment and male-perpetrated IPV against women has provided support for the hypothesis
that insecurely attached men are at risk for committing IPV (Tweed & Dutton, 1998) and
that attachment dynamics corresponding with insecure attachment (e.g., fear of abandonment) may explain IPV (Dutton & Browning, 1988; Dutton, Saunders, Starzomski,
& Bartholomew, 1994; Dutton, Starzomski, & Ryan, 1996; Woike, Osier, & Candela,
1996).

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IPV AND PERSONALITY DISORDERS

As noted earlier, personality disorders have also recently gained prominence in understanding the etiology of IPV. Specifically, research has demonstrated that personality
disorders related to the need to control others (e.g., narcissistic and antisocial) and related
to self-concept and identity (e.g., borderline) are particularly prominent among batterers
(Hamberger & Hastings, 1988). Additionally, research on violent husbands (HoltzworthMunroe, Bates, Smutzler, & Sandin, 1997) suggests that violent husbands compared with
nonviolent men are more likely to evidence borderline and antisocial personality disorders. For example, Hastings and Hamberger (1988) found that batterers demonstrated
more borderline symptomatology than nonbatterers, and Dutton et al. (1996) found that
descriptions of batterer personalities and behaviors fit the clinical classifications of borderline personality disorder. Murphy, Meyer, and OLeary (1993) found that violent men,
as compared to nonviolent men, consistently demonstrated higher scores on a measure of
antisocial personality disorder after controlling for social desirability.
Studies demonstrating the prevalence of personality dynamics descriptive of borderline and antisocial personality disorders among batterers provide additional support
for the hypothesis that the presence of a personality disorder may be a risk marker for
committing IPV. For example, a hallmark of borderline personality disorder is fear of
abandonment (Gunderson, 1984; Sack, Sperling, Fagen, & Foelsch, 1996), and Dutton
and Browning (1988) found that, compared with nonabusers, physical abusers reported
the most anger to scenarios depicting abandonment of a male by his female partner.
Additionally, research suggests a positive relationship between excessive dependency
needs, which are also a defining feature of the borderline personality (Gunderson, 1984;
Sack et al., 1996) and relationship violence (Murphy et al., 1993). Deficiencies in empathy as well as a lack of remorse are often associated with antisocial behaviors (American
Psychiatric Association, 1994), such as violence. Supporting this association, Mehrabian
(1997) found that measures of aggression and violence were negatively correlated with
measures of emotional empathy, and Bovasso, Alterman, Cacciola, and Rutherford
(2002) found that deficient empathy predicted violent crime. Research with samples of
men perpetrating IPV suggests that these men exhibit antisocial characteristics, such as
a tendency to externalize responsibility for behavior (Flourny & Wilson, 1991; Hale,
Zimostrad, Duckworth, & Nicholas, 1988).

ATTACHMENT THEORY: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR

UNDERSTANDING PERSONALITY DISORDER ORIGINS
In addition to providing a rich conceptual framework for understanding IPV, attachment
theory also provides a theoretical framework for understanding personality disorder origins, especially borderline and antisocial personality disorders. Bowlby (1988) argued that
the quality of ones early attachments determine internal representations of self and other.
In turn, these mental representations influence interpersonal functioning and impact later
psychological health. Secure attachments early in life contribute to healthy psychological
development, whereas insecure attachments make one vulnerable to psychopathology.
Specifically, anxious attachment produces a vulnerability to disorders that exaggerate
negative affect and distress in an effort to get the attention of an attachment figure. Fear of

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abandonment, clinging behaviors, and an uncertainty as to whether the attachment figure

will respond accompany overwhelming negative affects. In contrast, avoidant attachment
makes one prone to behaviors that minimize distress and vulnerable to disorders that
deny the presence of negative affect. Because avoidantly attached individuals expect to
be rebuffed, they become compulsively self-reliant and deny intimacy needs. Thus, the
psychopathology of anxious attachment is more likely to reflect borderline traits, whereas
the psychopathology of avoidant attachment is more likely to reflect antisocial personality
traits.
Others have followed Bowlby in positing the etiological role of attachment and disturbed
working models of self and other in theoretical conceptualizations of personality disorders
(Fonagy, 2003; Sable, 1997). Consistent with theoretical suppositions, many researchers
have underscored the importance of attachment in understanding personality disorders
(Brennan & Shaver, 1998; Livesley, Schroeder, & Jackson, 1990; Sheldon & West, 1990),
providing evidence of relationships between anxious attachment and borderline personality disorder (Fonagy et al., 1996; Patrick, Hobson, Castle, Howard, & Maughan, 1994;
Rosenstein & Horowitz, 1996; West, Keller, Links, & Patrick, 1993) as well as between
avoidant attachment and antisocial personality disorder (Gacano & Meloy, 1991, 1992;
Gacano, Meloy, & Berg, 1992).

PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY

Relationships between anxious attachment and borderline personality disorder as well
as relationships between avoidant attachment and antisocial personality disorder raise
questions about whether these adult attachment orientations and personality disorders
operate independently in predicting IPV or whether the presence or absence of personality disorders functionally mediates the relationship between insecure adult attachment
and IPV. While previous research has demonstrated the contributions of adult attachment
orientations and personality disorders in generally predicting IPV as well as relationships
between adult attachment and personality disorders, no study has tested whether personality disorders mediate the effects of adult attachment on violence. Answering this question
has important implications for batterer intervention, as models of intervention are related
to current understandings of risk factors for committing IPV. It also remains unclear
whether any observed interrelationships among adult attachment orientations, personality
disorders, and IPV are a function of the form of IPV that is being assessed. A review documenting different risk markers for psychological and physical violence (see Schumacher,
Feldbau-Kohn, et al., 2001; Schumacher, Smith Slep, et al., 2001) supports the inclusion
of psychological and physical violence as distinct outcomes in IPV research. Schumacher
et al.s reviews identified insecure attachment and personality disorders as risk markers for
both psychological and physical violence. It is thus possible that direct and mediational
effects of adult attachment and personality disorders on physical and psychological abuse
differ depending on the form of IPV that is being predicted. The current study will address
these questions by posing and testing mediational models that, respectively, predict scores
on indicators of psychological abuse and physical violence.
The proposed effort to consider how attachment and personality disorders function
together to explain IPV may also contribute to the discussion on batterer typologies. A
significant contribution to the field of IPV has been the advancement of batterer typology
research premised on the assumption that batterers are a heterogeneous group that may

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respond differentially to treatment (Langhinrichsen-Rohling, 2005). In general, typology

research suggests that there are subgroups of batterers that are behaviorally, emotionally,
and cognitively diverse. Moreover, typology research has indicated that anxious and avoidant adult attachment orientations as well as borderline and antisocial personality disorders
each play central roles in distinguishing batterer subgroups. Specifically, one of the proposed subgroups is avoidantly attached with antisocial personality disorder characteristics,
and a second proposed subgroup is anxiously attached with borderline personality disorder
characteristics (Hamberger, Lohr, Bonge, & Tolin, 1996; Holtzworth-Munore, Meehan,
Herron, Rehman, & Stuart, 2000; Tweed & Dutton, 1998; Waltz, Babcock, Jacobson, &
Gottman, 2000). The conceptualization outlined in this article, which juxtaposes anxious
attachment and borderline personality disorder as well as avoidant attachment and antisocial personality disorder, is consistent with the typology literature. However, understanding mediational processes between attachment and personality dysfunction will answer
questions regarding the dynamic by which attachment and personality may operate to
influence IPV for a particular subgroup of batterers.

Hypotheses
Based on research demonstrating associations between insecure attachment and personality
disorders, we hypothesized that relationships between adult attachment orientations and
IPV would be mediated by personality disorders. More specifically, we hypothesized that
borderline personality disorder would mediate the relationship between anxious attachment
and IPV, whereas antisocial personality disorder would mediate the relationship between
avoidant attachment and violence. In this study, IPV was operationalized by measures of
psychological and physical violence against intimate female partners.

METHOD
Participants
Participants were 192 heterosexual men with at least an eighth-grade reading level that
were court mandated to attend a community batterer intervention program. Three percent
of the sample had a graduate degree, 6% had a college degree, 27% had at least 1 year of
college, 40% had a high school diploma or graduate equivalent, 17% had at least 1 year
of high school, and 6% had only a junior high school education. Thirty-six percent of the
sample reported that they were married, 22% were single and not living with a girlfriend,
22% were single and living with a girlfriend, 11% were divorced, and 9% were separated.
The age of participants ranged from 17 to 56 years old, with a mean of 33 (SD = 8.83).
The racial ethnic breakdown of the sample was 67% Caucasian, 16% African American,
8% Hispanic, 3% Native American, 1% Asian, and 5% self-identified as other.

Procedures
Study participants were invited to participate in this study by the first author during one
of the participants court-mandated weekly group sessions. These men were informed that
participation in this study was voluntary and anonymous. If they declined to participate,
they would complete an alternate activity with the group facilitator. Participants were also
informed that they would receive $15 for their participation. All solicited men agreed to

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participate. Participants then completed informed consent forms and a packet of self-report
questionnaires. The order in which the questionnaires were administered was varied from
participant to participant. Participation time was approximately 45 minutes.

Measures
Demographic and Participant Background Questionnaire. This questionnaire was
developed to gather information regarding the participants ethnicity, age, educational
level, and relationship status for the purpose of describing the sample.
Reading Level. The Basic Reading Inventory: Graded PassageForm B (BRI; Johns,
1997) was individually administered to participants as an informal reading test to ensure
that respondents had an eighth-grade reading level. Published initially in 1978, the BRI has
been used extensively by various types of professionals in education and psychology. Form
B is a silent reading test, where participants read and subsequently respond in writing to
10 corresponding comprehension questions (i.e., What is this passage about?). If the
participant responds inaccurately to more than three questions, his comprehension of the
material is below the eighth-grade level. At least an eighth-grade reading level was needed
to understand the self-report inventories administered. All participants demonstrated an
eighth-grade reading level.
Antisocial and Borderline Personality Disorder Characteristics. Antisocial and borderline personality disorder characteristics were assessed using the Personality Diagnostic
QuestionnaireRevised (PDQ-R; Hyler et al., 1988), a self-report measure that screens
for personality disorders described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders (American Psychological Association, 1987). Scores can be computed as continuous or categorical variables. Categorical scores can be compared with cutoff scores
and used to determine whether a person meets criteria for a specific personality disorder.
Participants in this study completed only borderline and antisocial subscales. Because the
PDQ-R was used in this study to assess dimensions of antisocial and borderline personality disorders rather than to diagnose participants, continuous scores were used for the
purpose of this study. The borderline subscale has 12 items, and the antisocial subscale
has 11 items.
Some people consider me a drifter and lying comes easily to me and I often do
it are representative of items on the PDQ-R antisocial subscale. I feel empty or bored
much of the time and my feelings toward another person can often change drastically
are representative of items on the PDQ-R borderline subscale. The PDQ-R is valid for
use with both clinical (Hyler, Skodol, Oldham, Kellman, & Doidge, 1992; Hyler et al.,
1990) and nonclinical samples (Johnson & Bornstein, 1992; Wierzbicki & Gorman, 1995).
Correlations between borderline and antisocial subscales of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial
InventoryII (MCMI-II)a well-validated measure of personality disordersand the
PDQ-R borderline subscales and antisocial subscales have been as high as .57 and .37,
respectively, suggesting construct validity of the PDQ-R borderline and antisocial subscales (Wierzbicki & Gorman, 1995). In the present study, Cronbach alpha coefficients of
.66 and .62 were obtained for scores on the borderline and antisocial subscales, respectively. However, dropping the item I drive pretty well even if I have been drinking from
the antisocial subscale increased this subscales score reliability to .64. As such, this item
was not included in the antisocial subscale used for analyses in this study. Fossati et al.
(1998) found somewhat comparable internal consistency coefficients, with an alpha equal
to .70 for the borderline scale and .63 for the antisocial scale.

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Anxious and Avoidant Adult Attachment Orientations. Adult attachment orientations

were assessed using the Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR) short form. The ECR
is a 36-item measure of adult romantic attachment orientation comprised of two subscales:
orientation toward anxious adult attachment and orientation toward avoidant adult attachment (Brennan et al., 1998). Each subscale is comprised of 18 items. I worry about being
abandoned and I worry a lot about my relationships are representative of items making
up the anxious attachment orientation subscale. I prefer not to show a partner how I feel
deep down and I get uncomfortable when a romantic partner wants to be very close are
representative of items making up the avoidant attachment orientation subscale. Respondents
indicate their level of agreement with each item on a 7-point rating scale (1 = Disagree
Strongly; 7 = Agree Strongly), and, following recoding of some reverse-keyed items, item
ratings on each subscale are summed to produce total scores, with higher scores indicating
higher attachment anxiety and avoidance, respectively. Alpha coefficients for the anxious
and avoidant scales reported by Brennan et al. are .94 and .91, respectively, indicating good
internal consistency. In the present study, Cronbach alpha coefficients were .90 and .86 for
scores on the anxious and avoidant subscales, respectively.
Intimate Partner Physical Violence. Physical violence was assessed using the Conflict
Tactics Scale (CTS; Straus, 1979, 1990). The CTS is an 18-item self-report inventory consisting of a list of actions the respondent might take in a conflict with his partner. Participants
indicated their use of violent tactics in the 12-month period prior to their arrest. The modes of
conflict are scored on three dimensions: reasoning, verbal aggression, and physical violence.
For the purpose of this study, only the nine-item physical violence subscale was used.
Straus (1979) reported that scores on the CTS physical violence subscale obtained a
Cronbach alpha coefficient of .83 and demonstrated both construct and concurrent validity.
Additionally, evidence of the CTSs concurrent validity is demonstrated by anticipated
relationships between CTS violence subscales and variables predictive of male violent
behavior toward female partners (i.e., the lower a husbands economic and prestige
resources, the greater his tendency to use violence to maintain a male-dominant power
position; Straus, 1979, 1990). In the present study, the Cronbach alpha coefficient for the
physical violence subscale was .71.
Intimate Partner Psychological Violence. Psychological violence was assessed using
the short form of the Psychological Maltreatment of Women Scale (PMWS; Tolman, 1989,
1999). The PMWS short form contains 14 items describing various acts of coercion, verbal
abuse, and intimidation of intimate partners. Using a 5-point rating scale (1 = Never; 5 =
Very Frequently), participants indicated the frequency with which they engaged in these
acts of psychological violence in the 6 months prior to their arrest. The PMWS contains
two factor-analytically-derived subscales: emotional/verbal abuse and dominance/isolation (Tolman, 1989, 1999). Emotional/verbal abuse items include withholding emotional
support, verbal attacks, and humiliation. I called my partner names and I treated my
partner like an inferior are representative of items in the emotional/verbal abuse domain.
Dominance/isolation items tap the respondents demands for subservience. I interfered
in my partners relationships with other family members and I restricted my partners
use of the telephone are representative of dominance/isolation items. Tolman reported
Cronbach alpha coefficients for scores on the dominance/isolation and emotional/verbal
short subscales of .88 and .92, respectively (Tolman, 1999). In the present study, the two
PMWS subscales were strongly intercorrelated (r = .67); therefore, scores on these scales
were aggregated to create a composite psychological violence variable that obtained a
Cronbach alpha coefficient of .87.

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Social Desirability. When conducting domestic violence research, it is important to

control for socially desirable response bias (Arias & Beach, 1987). In this study, the short
form of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (SDS; Crowne & Marlowe, 1964)
was used. The SDS contains 10 items. I am quick to admit making a mistake is representative of items on the short form of the SDS. Participants were asked to respond on
a 7-point Likert scale the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with inventory items.
Previous studies using the SDS have yielded Cronbach alpha coefficients ranging from .72
(Loo & Thorpe, 2000) to .77 (Crino, Svoboda, Rubenfeld, & White, 1983) and a 1-month
interval testretest reliability coefficient of .86 (Crino et al. 1983). In the present study, a
Cronbach alpha coefficient of .74 was obtained.

RESULTS
Descriptive statistics and zero-order correlations for all variables included in the model
can be found in Table 1. Scores on the PDQ-R antisocial and borderline personality
disorder subscales were significantly and positively correlated with adult attachment
orientations. As expected, anxious attachment and borderline personality disorder scores
were highly correlated, and avoidant attachment and antisocial personality disorder scores
were correlated. Unexpectedly, PDQ-R antisocial scores were also correlated with anxious
attachment, and PDQ-R borderline scores were also correlated with avoidant attachment.
Psychological violence was correlated with both anxious and avoidant attachment as well
as with PDQ-R antisocial and borderline scores. Physical violence was correlated with
anxious attachment as well as with antisocial and borderline scores but not with avoidant
attachment. Social desirability was negatively correlated with measures of attachment,
personality disorders, and violence, thus justifying its statistical control in our primary
analyses (Arias & Beach, 1987).

TABLE 1. Descriptives and Zero-Order Correlations for Covariates, Predictors,

and Outcomes in Models Presented in Figure 1 and Figure 2
Scale
1. Social
desirability
2. Psychological
violence
3. Physical violence
4. Borderline PD
characteristics
5. Antisocial PD
characteristics
6. Avoidant
attachment
7. Anxious
attachment
*p

< .05. **p < .01.

SD

47.59

9.79

1.95

.66

.41**

3.67

.32
2.09

.40
.50**

.20** .46**
.57** .36**

2.3

1.94

.52**

.47** .36** .60**

3.06

1.05

.16*

.16*

3.68

1.28

.40**

.50** .24** .57** .41** .23**

.14

.28** .25**

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147

Path modeling with EQS 5.1 (Bentler, 1995) was used to test the hypotheses that
the relationship between anxious attachment and violence (physical and psychological)
behaviors is mediated by borderline personality disorder and that the relationship between
avoidant attachment and violence is mediated by antisocial personality disorder. Because
of significant correlations between borderline and antisocial personality scores, anxious
attachment and antisocial personality, and avoidant attachment and borderline personality, we also explored the possibility of borderline personality disorder mediating the
relationship between avoidant attachment and violence and the possibility of antisocial
personality disorder mediating the relationship between anxious attachment and violence.
Preliminary analyses indicated that the data met assumptions regarding normality, linearity, and homoscedasticity.
To establish potential mediational pathways, two hypotheses should be supported (see
Judd & Kenney, 1981; MacKinnon, Lockwood, Hoffman, West, & Sheets, 2002): (a) the
predictor variable should be significantly related to the mediator, and (b) the mediator
should significantly predict the outcome after adjusting for the effect of the predictor.
For example, in the mediation model with avoidant attachment, antisocial personality,
and violence, avoidant attachment should have a significant path to antisocial personality, and antisocial personality should have a significant path to physical or psychological
violence after controlling for avoidant attachment. Given the support of these hypotheses,
the effect of antisocial personality in mediating the relation between avoidant attachment
and physical or psychological violence or the effect of borderline personality in mediating
the relation between anxious attachment and physical or psychological violence can be
tested for statistical significance using the multivariate-delta method (MacKinnon et al.,
2002; Sobel, 1986). This method calculates the standard error of the mediation effect (the
multiplication of the path from the predictor variable to the mediator [path a] and the path
from the mediator to the outcome [path b], ab), which is then used to test the significance
of the mediation effects (i.e., z = ab/SEab; z 1.65 for p .05, one-tail test).
Figure 1 depicts the results of the mediation analysis for the model with avoidant attachment as the predictor, antisocial and borderline personality disorders as the mediators, and
physical and psychological violence as the outcomes. Figure 2 depicts the results of the
mediation analysis for the model with anxious attachment as the predictor, antisocial and
borderline personality disorders as the mediators, and physical and psychological violence

Figure 1. Mediational model with avoidant attachment, antisocial and borderline personality
disorder scores, and physical and psychological violence. Social Desirability entered as covariate
but path to dependent variables not shown for simplicity of presentation.

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Figure 2. Mediational model with anxious attachment, antisocial and borderline personality
disorder scores, and physical and psychological violence. Social Desirability entered as covariate
but path to dependent variables not shown for simplicity of presentation.

as the outcomes. Because of the saturated nature of these two models, the model fit the data
perfectly (i.e., 2 [0, N = 192] = 0, RMSEA = 1.00, SRMR = 1.00) for both models. For
the model shown in Figure 1, avoidant attachment was significantly related to both antisocial personality ( = .17, p < .01) and borderline personality ( = .21, p < .01). Antisocial
personality was significantly related to both physical violence ( = .23, p < .01) and psychological violence ( = .16, p < .05). In addition, borderline personality was significantly
related to both physical violence ( = .24, p < .01) and psychological violence ( = .42,
p < .01). The direct path from avoidant attachment to physical violence or to psychological
violence was not significant after taking the mediator variables, antisocial and borderline
personality disorders, into account ( = .02, ns; = .02, ns, respectively). Results of the
multivariate delta method (Sobel, 1982, 1986) indicated that both antisocial and borderline
personality disorders were significant mediators of the relation between avoidant attachment and physical violence (z = 1.89, p = .05; z = 2.17, p = .01, respectively) and the relation
between avoidant attachment and psychological violence (z = 1.65, p = .05; z = 3.02,
p = .01). Antisocial and borderline personality disorders together served as a full mediator of
the relation between avoidant attachment and physical violence and psychological violence.
A full mediation process is characterized as having a significant mediation pathway with a
nonsignificant direct path. A partial mediation process is characterized as having a significant mediation pathway as well as a significant direct path. The model accounted for 16%
of the variance for physical violence and 36% of variance for psychological violence.
For the model shown in Figure 2, anxious attachment was significantly related to
borderline personality ( = .44, p < .01) and antisocial personality ( = .24, p < .01).
Borderline personality was significantly related to both physical violence ( = .23, p < .05)
and psychological violence ( = .30, p < .01). Antisocial personality was significantly
related to physical violence ( = .23, p < .05) but not psychological violence. After taking
borderline and antisocial personality into account, the direct path from anxious attachment
to psychological violence remained significant ( = .24, p < .01). However, the direct
path from anxious attachment to physical violence was no longer significant. Multivariate
delta method results indicated that borderline personality was a significant mediator of the
relationship between anxious attachment and physical violence (z = 2.32, p = .01) and the
relationship between anxious attachment and psychological violence (z = 3.39, p = .01).
In addition, antisocial personality was a significant mediator of the relationship between

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anxious attachment and physical violence (z = 2.13, p = .01). Antisocial and borderline
personality disorders together served as a full mediator of the relationship between anxious
attachment and physical violence but a partial mediator of the relationship between anxious attachment and psychological violence. The model accounted for 16% of the variance
for physical violence and 39% of variance for psychological violence.

DISCUSSION
This studys findings indicated that personality disorders significantly mediated the relationships between adult attachment orientations and indices of physical and psychological
violence. More specifically, our results support our hypotheses that antisocial personality disorder functions as a mechanism through which avoidant adult attachment is related to both
physical and psychological violence and that borderline personality disorder functions as a
mechanism through which anxious adult attachment is related to both physical and psychological violence. Although not hypothesized, borderline personality disorder in addition to
antisocial personality disorder mediated relationships between adult avoidant attachment and
violence, and antisocial personality disorder in addition to borderline person mediated the
relationship between anxious attachment and physical violence. However, the relationship
between anxious attachment and psychological violence was only partially mediated by personality disorders. After controlling for personality disorders, anxious attachment continued
to have a direct effect on psychological violence. Taken together, this studys findings suggest that, after controlling for the batterers personality disorder, avoidant attachment does
not have a direct effect on physical or psychological violence, whereas anxious attachment
does have a direct effect on psychological violence but not physical violence.
Despite unique diagnostic criteria distinguishing antisocial and borderline personality
disorder diagnoses, some research suggests that the two diagnoses may not be mutually
exclusive. In fact, borderline and antisocial personality disorders represent a common cluster of personality disorders (e.g., cluster B) characterized by behaviors that are impulsive
and violate social norms (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Moreover, measures
of antisocial and borderline personality, including the PDQ-R, often have overlapping
items. Illustratively, Gacono and colleagues (1992) found support for the presence of
borderline symptomatology among a group of offenders meeting criteria for antisocial
personality disorder and psychopathy. Overlap between borderline and antisocial personality disorder symptoms may explain the high correlation between antisocial and borderline
scores in this studys sample.
Batterer typology research has also prompted discussion regarding the distinctiveness
of the antisocial and borderline batterer subgroups. For example, Holtzworth-Munroe,
Meehan, Herron, Rehman, and Stuart (2003) found that antisocial and borderline batterers
did not always differ significantly on measures of antisociality, and Tweed and Duttons
(1998) impulsive batterer also produced high mean scores on both antisocial and borderline scales. Waltz et al. (2000) identified a pathological batterer subtype that scored
highest on measures of both antisocial and borderline personality disorders and also found
a strong correlation (r = .64) between antisocial and borderline measures among their community sample of self-reported batterers. Holtzworth-Munroe et al. (2003) also found that
borderline batterers did not differ significantly from antisocial batterers on a composite
measure of preoccupied and fearful attachment, suggesting that preoccupied and fearful
attachment may be characteristic of both antisocial and borderline batterers.

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Given relationships between antisocial and borderline personality disorders, relationships between the two personality disorders corresponding attachment orientations are
understandable. Attachment literature provides additional insight regarding the relationship
between avoidant and anxious adult attachment orientations. Specifically, Bartholomew
and Horowitz (1991) tested a fourfold attachment typology that distinguished between
two types of avoidant attachment. The first type, dismissive, is characterized by a negative
internal working model of others but a positive internal working model of self. The second
type, fearful attachment, is characterized by a negative internal working model of both
self and other and combines abandonment anxiety with avoidant behavior (Brennan et al.,
1998). This studys unexpected finding that avoidant attachment functioned as a stronger
predictor of borderline than antisocial personality disorder may be explained by the presence of batterers with fearful attachment in the studys sample. Support for a batterer characterized by fearful attachment has been provided by Dutton and colleagues (1994) work
suggesting that early trauma can lead to fearful attachment and, in conjunction with real
or perceived unmet attachment needs, violence against his partner. Research investigating
relationships between antisocial symptomatology and Duttons fearful batterer is needed
before assuming that the fearful batterer who may combine avoidant attachment with
abandonment anxiety also evidences both antisocial and borderline characteristics.
The results of this study contribute to the dialogue on batterer typologies. Extant typology research associates anxious attachment and borderline personality disorder with a
specific subgroup of batterers while associating avoidant attachment and antisocial personality disorder with another subgroup of batterers. A third subgroup without personality
disorder symptomatology that exhibits less severe violence than either the anxious borderline or the avoidant antisocial batterer has also been implicated in typology literature. This
study provides information regarding the dynamic by which adult attachment orientations
and personality disorders operate conjointly to influence the IPV enacted by batterer subtypes. Many of this studys findings are consistent with typology research. For example,
our results indicate that, for at least for some batterers, psychological violence may be
directly related to ones anxious attachment and not a function of personality pathology.
Next, this studys results support relationships between anxious adult attachment and
borderline personality disorder as well as relationships between adult avoidant attachment
and antisocial personality disorder. However, in contrast to typology research, anxious
attachment also predicted antisocial personality, and avoidant attachment also predicted
borderline personality disorder. Mediational analyses suggest that (a) both borderline and
antisocial personality disorders are mechanisms influencing avoidantly attached batterers
physical and psychological violence and (b) both borderline and antisocial personality
disorders are mechanisms influencing anxiously attached batterers physical violence.
However, whereas borderline personality disorder also functioned as a mediating influence
of the anxiously attached batterers psychological violence, antisocial personality disorder
did not.
An emergent clinical implication of this studys findings is that batterer intervention programs (BIPs) serving batterers presenting with antisocial and/or borderline personality disorders may need to address the batterers personality disorders to effectively end his violence
against women. Research suggesting that tailoring interventions to batterer characteristics
resulted in improved outcomes (Saunders, 1996) as well as findings indicating that men
scoring in the clinical range on borderline or antisocial scales were less likely to benefit from
treatment compared to men scoring in the normative range (Dutton, Bodnarchuk, Kropp,
Hart, & Ogloff, 1997) are consistent with the assertion that addressing personality disorders

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151

in batterer intervention is important. Moreover, practitioners (Murphy & Dienemann, 1999)

have expressed concern that batterers with personality disorders impede the progress of less
pathological batterers, suggesting that BIPs combining nonpathological batterers with batterers evidencing personality disorders may be counterproductive.
If BIPs are extended to address batterers pathology, drawing from the psychotherapy
literature on treating borderline and antisocial personality disorders should prove useful. For example, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is being advanced by Linehan
(1993) as a model for treating borderline patients, and empirical findings suggest that it
is effective in eliminating borderline behaviors (Bohus et al., 2004). In fact, a model of
intervention extending DBT principles to batterer treatment has already been introduced
(Fruzetti & Levensky, 2000), although it has yet to be implemented. Research on effective
treatments with persons diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder is less promising.
However, in a review of attempted treatments with antisocial persons, Reid and Gacono
(2000) indicated that strict social management, with consistent, predictable, even rigid
consequences for ones [antisocial] acts is most likely to extinguish the behavior (p. 657).
Reid and Gaconos recommendation emphasizes the importance of following through
with sanctions and consequences imposed on batterers by the criminal justice system.
Future research should examine whether incorporating tenets of interventions demonstrated as effective with borderline personality persons in general clinical samples results
in more effective treatment of batterers presenting with borderline personality disorder.
Additionally, mediational models that test whether criminal sanctions are an especially
effective mechanism to explain decreases in IPV among antisocial batterers could be an
important line of inquiry.
Although this studys findings suggest that interventions for batterers presenting with
antisocial and/or borderline personality disorders may require addressing the batterers personality disorders to effectively end his violence against women, it is important to note that
personality disorders are stable characteristics with a poor prognosis (American Psychiatric
Association, 1994) even with many years of intensive psychotherapy (Gunderson, 1984,
1996). As such, BIPs targeting personality disorder pathology should be lengthy and
intensive. Many current interventions are based on a 12-week model with once-weekly
sessions. For batterers presenting with personality disorders, year-long programs with
twice weekly sessions may be more appropriate. Additionally, there is no evidence that
treating the personality disorder alone is likely to result in the cessation of violence, and
many other variables are important etiological contributors to IPV. As such, until evidence
suggests otherwise, interventions targeting batterer pathology should supplement rather
than substitute extant violence-cessation curriculum components already in use. However,
some research has already demonstrated that tailoring interventions to batterer characteristics has positive outcomes (Chang & Saunders, 2002; Saunders, 1996). Future research
should continue to explore the effectiveness of BIPs that specifically address batterer
pathology and examine if separate interventions for batterers with and without personality
disorders will result in improved outcomes for each of these groups.
Identification of batterers presenting with antisocial and/or borderline personality disorders could be accomplished via assessments that inform intervention providers regarding a
batterers underlying pathology. The purpose of this assessment should be twofold. First,
knowledge of this underlying pathology can assist practitioners in making appropriate
referrals for batterers to increase the likelihood of violence cessation. However, a second
and more important purpose would be to provide practitioners and victims with insight
regarding the batterers potential threat to the victim, given that research has demonstrated

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that severity of violence among batterers is positively associated with pathology (Edwards,
Scott, Yarvis, Paizis, & Panizzon, 2003; Lawson et al., 2003).
This studys findings that, above and beyond indirect effects, anxious attachment has a
direct effect on psychological violence suggest that targeting the attachment dysfunction
of an anxiously attached batterer who does not evidence borderline pathology and enacts
only psychological violence may have merit. Some researchers have already initiated the
development of treatment models premised on the tenets of attachment theory (Sonkin &
Dutton, 2003; Stosny, 1995). Inherent in these treatment models is the notion that once batterers dysfunctional attachment dynamics desist, battering will also desist. Specifically,
if the anxiously attached batterer who uses psychological violence to control his partners
proximity learns that his hostile and violent tactics to prevent abandonment may actually cause his partner to seek greater emotional distance from him, he may be motivated
toward compliance with an intervention teaching nonviolent communication and relationship skills that allow for heightened emotional intimacy and that consequently minimize
abandonment fears. However, this studys findings that physical violence is fully mediated
by personality disorders suggest that targeting attachment dysfunction is not appropriate
as an intervention for physical violence.
Some limitations should be considered when evaluating results of this study. First, recent
etiological models of IPV have been multidimensional and have included both individualand system-level predictors of IPV (ONeil & Harway, 1997). The models in this study
included only individual-level predictors representing psychological theories of violence.
Thus, researchers were unable to test hypotheses regarding moderating and/or mediating
effects of variables representative of other theoretical perspectives (i.e., sociopolitical) on
relationships between individual-level predictors and physical and psychological violence.
A second limitation associated with the studys design is the cross-sectional nature of the
data. Although our findings support expected relationships between attachment and personality disorders, use of cross-sectional data prohibits conclusions regarding the temporal
precedence of attachment. Additionally, use of cross-sectional data does not allow for tests
of cause-and-effect relationships between attachment, personality disorders, and violence.
This study also has some sampling and measurement limitations. Participants
included in this study were involved with the criminal justice system and on probation
for a domestic assault misdemeanor. As such, this studys findings may not generalize
to batterers who enact minor violence and exist under the radar of the criminal justice
system. This studys findings are also not generalizable to batterers who have been
arrested for domestic assault felonies and are in jail. Because pathology is associated
with severity of IPV (Edwards et al., 2003; Lawson et al., 2003), antisocial and borderline personality disorders are probably most prevalent among incarcerated batterers.
Because men in this sample committed only misdemeanor violence, PDQ-R borderline
and antisocial scores for men in this sample may not be representative of borderline and
antisocial personality traits for all batterers. Furthermore, the modest internal consistency reliabilities of PDQ-R scores observed within our sample may be a contributing
factor to the high correlation between antisocial and borderline scores and would support the use of alternative measures of personality disorders in future studies. Relatedly,
this study was limited by monomeasure and monomethod bias because measures in this
study were exclusively self-report and data were collected from only one source (Cook
& Campbell, 1979). This may be especially problematic for self-reports of psychological and physical violence, given batterers tendencies to minimize self-report of acts of
violence (Arias & Beach, 1987).

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Correspondence regarding this article should be directed to Anne Marie Mauricio, PhD, Arizona
Prevention Research Center, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 876005, Tempe, AZ 85287-6005.
E-mail: anne.mauricio@asu.edu

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