Evidence for biological roots in the transgenerational transmission of intimate partner violence.

ABSTRACT: Intimate partner violence is a ubiquitous and devastating phenomenon for which effective interventions and a clear etiological understanding are still lacking. A major risk factor for violence perpetration is childhood exposure to violence, prompting the proposal that social learning is a major contributor to the transgenerational transmission of violence. Using an animal model devoid of human cultural factors, we showed that male rats became highly aggressive against their female partners as adults after exposure to non-social stressful experiences in their youth. Their offspring also showed increased aggression toward females in the absence of postnatal father-offspring interaction or any other exposure to violence. Both the females that cohabited with the stressed males and those that c

SUBMITTER: Cordero MI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3337076 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature