Desistance of Husband Aggression in the Early Years of Marriage

Desistance of husband marital aggression was investigated over a 3-year time span. One hundred and eighty-eight couples who had experienced husband aggression in the first year of marriage were followed to the third year of marriage. Overall 23.9% of these husbands had no violence in years 2 and 3. However, desistance rates differed as a function of the type of violence that occurred in year 1. Husbands who had only one incident of minor physical aggression and no severe violence in year 1 were most likely to desist in years 2 and 3 while those who used severe violence in year 1 were least likely to desist. Subsequent analyses showed that wife’s depression and dissatisfaction with the partner increased from years 1 to 3 when desistance did not occur.