The interface between quality and violence in marital relationships

Abstract

Domestic violence has been considered accountable for a reduction in the level of marital quality, although no relationship has been identified between these variables. This study aimed to measure the levels of marital quality and domestic violence, as well as their relationship with sociodemographic characteristics and the predictive power of the different types of violence on martial quality. This quantitative study included 186 heterosexual couples (N = 372), who answered a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Golombok Rust Inventory of Marital State (GRIMS), and the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2). The respondents assessed their marital quality as being average or very good (66.5%), and poor or with very severe problems (33.5%). Although good levels of marital quality prevailed, the rates of psychological violence reached 86.6%. A negative correlation was found between violence and marital quality. A possible naturalization of violence was found, especially psychological, which was the dimension with the highest predictive power for marital problems.