Please join us in congratulating Dr. Andrew Garcia who successfully defended his dissertation on June 15th, 2023. Dr. Andrew Garcia’s dissertation is titled Self-Verification as a Potential Explanatory Mechanism between Childhood Emotional Abuse and Interpersonal Violence in Young Adult Romantic Relationships.
In his dissertation, Dr. Garcia focuses on how childhood emotional abuse may increase one’s chances of experiencing adult intimate partner relationship abuse. He is using self-verification and self-enhancement theories to try to propose a mechanism of how childhood emotional abuse affects adult relationships. Using data from the Kaplan Longitudinal & Multigenerational Survey (KLAMS), Dr. Garcia developed a robust measure of CEA, encompassing multiple dimensions of emotionally abusive behavior. Regression results showed that childhood emotional abuse significantly predicted emotional victimization in future romantic relationships for both males and females. However, SEM models show that self-derogating attitudes did not mediate this relationship, suggesting that other theoretical mechanisms may be in play. The results of this study serve as impetus for more work on emotional abuse as a distinct form of trauma, including its potential effect on identity formation. In addition, it provides significant evidence to suggest that the cycle of victimization is as worthy of attention as cycles of violence. Finally, it provides a roadmap for future work in this area, including intersectional and parent-specific approaches.
Dr. Jane Sell, Dr. Mary Campbell, Dr. Rebecca Schlegel (Psychological and Brain Sciences) and Dr. Heili Pals (chair) served on Dr. Garcia’s committee.
Dr. Andrew Garcia is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at Sociology and Criminology Department at Assumption University (Worcester, MA) and will start in the Fall as a tenure-track Assistant Professor at Assumption University.
Congratulations, Dr. Garcia, both on your PhD and on your job!