Military spouses are an understudied population with respect to intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. Due to the unique demands of service members’ jobs, military couples are documented to experience particular individual, couple, and family-level risk factors that may lead to IPV perpetration. Using the frustration-aggression hypothesis and considering the possibility of mutual violence, we examined (a) the direct effects of stressful events, marital discord, and work–family conflict on IPV perpetration among military spouses and (b) the indirect effect of anger arousal between stressful events, marital discord, and work–family conflict on IPV perpetration. This study is a secondary analysis of data drawn from a survey of army spouses conducted by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in 2012. The sample consists of 314 female spouses of active-duty members (white 75%, enlisted 80%). After controlling for covariates (including spouse race, rank, household size, age, living distance from military installation), the direct effects of marital discord and anger on IPV perpetration were statistically significant. Also, the direct effects of marital discord and work–family conflict on anger were significant. The path model demonstrated that the indirect effects of marital discord and work–family conflict on IPV perpetration via anger were significant. Finally, most physical and verbal violence was reported to occur in the form of mutual violence with their partners. Study findings suggest that the pathway of risk factors impacting IPV might differ depending on the sources of stress. The Family Advocacy Program, military social work practitioners, and other behavioral health providers should consider domains of risk and provide support to military spouses that is specifically tailored to these risk factors. Furthermore, considering the mediating role of anger arousal in the relationship between marital discord, work–family conflict and IPV, programs to address anger might be helpful to reduce IPV among military spouse perpetrators.

军人配偶在亲密伴侣暴力 (IPV) 犯罪方面的研究不足。由于军人工作的独特需求，军人夫妇被记录为经历可能导致 IPV 犯罪的特定个人、夫妇和家庭层面的风险因素。使用挫折-攻击假设并考虑相互暴力的可能性，我们检查了（a）压力事件、婚姻不和谐和工作-家庭冲突对军人配偶实施 IPV 的直接影响，以及（b）激怒的间接影响压力事件、婚姻不和谐和 IPV 犯罪的工作-家庭冲突之间的关系。这项研究是对沃尔特·里德陆军研究所 2012 年对军队配偶进行的一项调查数据的二次分析。样本包括现役成员的 314 名女性配偶（白人 75%，入伍 80%）。在控制协变量（包括配偶种族、等级、家庭规模、年龄、与军事设施的居住距离）后，婚姻不和谐和愤怒对 IPV 犯罪的直接影响具有统计学意义。此外，婚姻不和谐和工作家庭冲突对愤怒的直接影响是显着的。路径模型表明，婚姻不和谐和工作-家庭冲突对通过愤怒实施 IPV 的间接影响是显着的。最后，据报道，大多数身体和语言暴力都以与伴侣相互暴力的形式发生。研究结果表明，影响 IPV 的风险因素的途径可能因压力来源而异。家庭宣传计划，军人社会工作从业者和其他行为健康提供者应考虑风险领域，并为军人配偶提供专门针对这些风险因素的支持。此外，考虑到愤怒唤起在婚姻不和谐、工作-家庭冲突和 IPV 之间的关系中的中介作用，解决愤怒的计划可能有助于减少军人配偶施暴者的 IPV。