Life Events Stress and Courtship Violence

Abstract

Recent studies have found violence to be a common feature of premarital dating and courtship. The association of life events stress with courtship violence is examined via a questionnaire of the experiences of a sample of college undergraduates. Life event stress was found to be unrelated to involvement in courtship violence among women. For men, only culturally undesirable events were associated with increased courtship violence. An increasing rate of culturally desirable events was associated with decreased courtship violence, and undesirable health related events had no significant effect.