Fueling the Flames of Relationship Anxiety as a Response to Emotional Violence Experience: The Role of Rumination in Emerging Adult Women

Abstract

Purpose Emotional violence is a crucial threat due to the short and long-term adverse effects it can leave on the exposed person. In romantic relationships, people can be vulnerable to relationship anxiety upon emotional violence experiences if they further have ruminative tendencies. Therefore, in this study, we explore the role of rumination in the association between emotional violence exposure and relationship anxiety among emerging adult women. Method We gathered data from 416 emerging adult women between the ages of 18 and 30 (M = 22.55, SD = 2.61) who were currently in or had been in relationships and analyzed using regression-based analyses implemented in PROCESS (Model 4). Results Our findings unraveled that emerging adult women who reported greater exposure to emotional violence exhibited higher levels of rumination and, consequently, greater anxiety surrounding romantic relationships, [beta = 0.106, 95% CI (0.068, 0.148)]. Conclusions The study contributes to the literature on emotional violence exposure by examining rumination as a key mechanism linking emotional violence exposure to relationship anxiety among emerging adult women, highlighting the need for targeted interventions addressing both emotional impact and cognitive processes.