The Context of Aggressive Behavior in Marriage: A Longitudinal Study of Newlyweds Nancy E. Frye Long Island University, C. W. Post Campus Benjamin R. Karney RAND Corporation Under what circumstances are spouses more or less likely to engage in aggressive behaviors? To address this question, the current study drew on multiple longitudinal assessments of 1st-married newlyweds to examine correlates of within-subject variability in aggressive behavior. Controlling for marital satisfaction, the authors found that spouses were more likely to engage in physical aggression at times when they engaged in higher levels of psychological aggression. Additionally, husbands reporting higher levels of chronic stress were more likely to engage in physical aggression overall and were more likely to engage in physical aggression when they were experiencing higher than average levels of acute stress. These results highlight how demands and supports in the context external to a marriage may affect processes within the marriage. Keywords: newlyweds, intimate partner violence, marital interaction, family stress Although aggression in intimate relationships is almost universally deplored, it is surprisingly common. In national surveys, between 8% and 21% of couples report physical violence within the last year (Schafer, Caetano, & Clark, 1998). In the early years of marriage, physical aggression appears to be even more prevalent. One third of engaged couples and nearly half of recently married couples have engaged in physical aggression within the last year (Law- rence & Bradbury, 2001; O’Leary et al., 1989). Although the majority of the reported behaviors are relatively mild forms of physical aggression (e.g., slapping, pushing), even mild forms of physical aggression can have significant consequences for the health and well-being of partners (Umberson, Anderson, Glick, & Shapiro, 1998) and have proven to be better predictors of divorce than marital inter- action (Rogge & Bradbury, 1999). A premise of the current study is that efforts to prevent or reduce aggression in intimate relationships will be strength- ened by a clearer understanding of the circumstances under which partners are more likely to engage in aggressive acts (see Lawrence & Bradbury, 2001). Expressions of aggres- sive behavior are likely to fluctuate within couples over time. For example, in a longitudinal study of newly married couples, although physical aggression at one time point was found to increase the probability of aggression at subse- quent time points, over 40% of husbands and wives were aggressive at only one or two of three assessments, suggest- ing some degree of variability in physical aggression over time (O’Leary et al., 1989). Drawing from multiple waves of longitudinal data to describe trajectories of physical aggression over time, Bradbury and Lawrence (1999) showed that partners’ levels of physical aggression varied over time and that partners with the same initial levels of physical aggression may have different rates of change in physical aggression over time. Recognizing this variability in physical aggression across assessments, there have been calls for longitudinal research to examine the correlates of within-person change in phys- ical aggression over time (Bradbury & Lawrence, 1999). With few exceptions (e.g., Fals-Stewart, 2003), however, research has generally assessed physical aggression at one time point or compared couples from a group known to engage in physical aggression with couples from a group not reporting physical aggression. Such research has proven useful for identifying couples vulnerable to physical aggres- sion, but it has not been able to examine when vulnerable couples are most likely to engage in physical aggression. Addressing this question requires research that obtains mul- tiple assessments of physical aggression and potential cor- relates of physical aggression over a substantial period in a relationship. The current study adopts this approach to examine cor- relates of within-subject variability in physically aggressive behavior among newlywed couples. To pursue this goal, we divide the remainder of the introduction into three sections. The first reviews research on relationship-specific correlates of aggression, focusing in particular on the qualities of marital interactions that are likely to be associated with aggression. The second reviews situational correlates, most notably acute and chronic stressors within the external en- vironment of the marriage. The final section provides an overview of the current study, designed to examine the role Nancy E. Frye, Department of Psychology, Long Island Uni- versity, C. W. Post Campus; Benjamin R. Karney, RAND Corpo- ration, Santa Monica, CA. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Nancy E. Frye, Department of Psychology, Long Island Univer- sity, C. W. Post Campus, 720 Northern Boulevard, Brookeville, NY 11548-1300. E-mail: nancy.frye@liu.edu Journal of Family Psychology Copyright 2006 by the American Psychological Association 2006, Vol. 20, No. 1, 12–20 0893-3200/06/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/0893-3200.20.1.12 12