Dating Status Variations and Woman Abuse

Abstract

Few have attempted tests of explanations of variations in woman abuse across dating status categories. We provide a test of Ellis and DeKeseredy's dependence, availability, and deterrence (DAD) model. The model contends that highly dependent men in situations of high availability and with low deterrence are more abusive than those who are less dependent, encountering low availability and high deterrence. Using data from male respondents to the 1993 Canadian National Survey on woman abuse in university/college dating, this article provides provisional support for the model.