Did the COVID-19 pandemic increase intimate partner aggression among married couples?

Abstract

Discrepant theoretical perspectives assert that challenges brought on by COVID-19 could either increase or decrease intimate partner aggression (IPA) between spouses. As reliance on retrospective or post-COVID-19 data cannot resolve these competing views, we turn to a sample of established mixed-sex married couples (N = 223) who provided six waves of pre-COVID-19 data and three waves of post-COVID-19 data. We examined whether the onset of COVID-19 affected IPA and whether any such changes were more pronounced for some couples than for others. Replicating prior research, dyadic piecewise regression showed that IPA declined significantly over time prior to COVID-19; these declines continued following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Post-COVID-19 IPA intercepts were reliably lower than pre-COVID-19 intercepts, and the proportion of couples reporting any IPA dropped by 20% after the pandemic onset. Finally, post-COVID-19 IPA intercepts tended to be higher when, prior to the onset of COVID-19, spouses reported more IPA, less relationship satisfaction, and more stress, suggesting continuity rather than disruption in predictors of IPA. Thus, on average, among established mixed-sex married couples, (a) IPA declined over time, including from before to after COVID-19 onset, and (b) post-COVID-19 levels of IPA were predictable from pre-COVID-19 couple functioning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).