Few studies have examined gender-specific concerns within intimate relationships that may be associated with conflict escalation and intimate partner violence (IPV). While prior theorizing has emphasized issues such as men’s feelings of jealousy, the role of concerns and conflict related to men’s actions has not been as thoroughly investigated. We draw on the life course perspective as background for assessing conflict areas related to men’s and women’s actions during the young adult period, and subsequently the association between such concerns and the odds of reporting IPV in a current/most recent relationship. Building on a longitudinal data set focused on a large, diverse sample (Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study, n = 904), we administered surveys that assessed whether disagreements about potential conflict areas—including but not limited to infidelity—related to male or female partner’s actions. Concerns about women’s and men’s actions were both related to the odds of reporting IPV experience, but disagreements about male partners’ actions during young adulthood were actually more common, and relative to concerns about women’s actions, more strongly associated with IPV. Research and programmatic efforts should give additional attention to specific areas around which couples’ disagreements develop and conflicts sometimes escalate. A dyadic approach adds to the frequent emphasis on emotion management and control that center primarily on one partner’s problematic relationship style—thus addressing the ‘form’ but not the ‘content’ of intimate partner conflicts. This approach would highlight a broader range of relationship dynamics than are currently included in theorizing and applied efforts.

很少有研究探讨亲密关系中可能与冲突升级和亲密伴侣暴力 (IPV) 有关的特定性别问题。虽然先前的理论强调了男性的嫉妒感等问题，但与男性行为相关的担忧和冲突的作用尚未得到彻底的研究。我们利用生命历程的视角作为背景来评估与青年时期男性和女性行为相关的冲突领域，以及随后这些担忧与在当前/最近的关系中报告 IPV 的几率之间的关联。基于关注大量、多样化样本的纵向数据集（托莱多青少年关系研究，n = 904），我们进行了调查，评估潜在冲突领域（包括但不限于不忠）的分歧是否与男性或女性伴侣的行为有关。对女性和男性行为的担忧都与报告 IPV 经历的几率有关，但对男性伴侣在成年初期的行为的分歧实际上更常见，并且相对于对女性行为的担忧，与 IPV 的相关性更强。研究和计划工作应该额外关注夫妻之间产生分歧和冲突有时升级的特定领域。二元方法增加了对情绪管理和控制的频繁强调，主要集中在一方有问题的关系风格上，从而解决了亲密伴侣冲突的“形式”，而不是“内容”。这种方法将突出比目前理论和应用工作中包含的更广泛的关系动态。