Psychological violence in intimate relationships: stressor interactions and psychological outcomes

This study aimed to develop the Psychological Abuse in Intimate Relationships Scale (PAIRS), a psychometrically sound measure capturing the multifaceted nature of psychological abuse, and to examine its dimensions and associations with trauma-related psychological outcomes. An initial item pool was created by reviewing 16 existing scales in the psychological abuse literature. Seventy-one items were generated and tested in a pilot study (n = 337). In the second phase, data were collected online from 1,012 ever-partnered women. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with Promax rotation examined the dimensional structure of PAIRS. ANOVAs compared women exposed to psychological abuse alone versus those also exposed to physical and/or sexual violence. Hierarchical regressions examined the associations between psychological abuse and peri-trauma distress and PTSD. The PAIRS demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.98), and its subscales showed high reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.80–0.95). EFA revealed a dominant unrotated factor, indicating a coherent psychological abuse construct. The rotated solution yielded eight interrelated factors, reflecting its multifaceted structure. Psychological abuse explained the largest proportion of variance in peri-trauma distress and PTSD. While psychological abuse alone was significantly associated with peri- and post-trauma outcomes, the severity of impairment was substantially amplified when it co-occurred with physical and/or sexual violence, consistent with cumulative and multiplicative effects. The PAIRS is a reliable and valid tool for capturing the multidimensional nature of psychological abuse. It offers important clinical and research utility by identifying specific abusive behavior patterns. Future research should validate the PAIRS in more diverse populations.