Early red flags that can predict your partner's probability to become abusive

Early in a relationship, people can mistake their new partner's dubious behaviour for a bad day because they are so infatuated, furthermore, it happens much too frequently for something that someone brushes off as insignificant to turn into abusive behaviour that makes them feel stuck in the relationship despite their desperation to end it.

According to a study published on Monday in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, researchers from the University of Western Ontario in Canada set out to determine whether there are markers that consistently precede and predict intimate partner violence, which is defined as physical, sexual, or psychological abuse committed by individuals against their romantic partners, reported CNN.

“It’s one of the very first studies to identify behaviors which are predicting abuse but are not themselves abusive,” said the study’s lead author Dr Nicolyn Charlot, a researcher associated with the psychology department of the University of Western Ontario.

“Violence doesn’t typically appear super early on. It’s rare that you go on a first date and experience intimate partner violence."

“By the time that violence is happening, people are often invested in their relationships,” Charlot added. “Leaving can be difficult. So, my idea with this study was that if people were able to see red flags, warning signs, in advance of becoming invested, of moving in, of whatever — that might let them kind of take a minute to reevaluate the relationship, to proceed more cautiously, before that violence occurs.”