are also sometimes very violent to their wives. The sample should have had more diversity, not be made up almost entirely of Whites. Some races are more naturally violent than others are because its part of their culture. Using mostly whites in this study taints it because different depression could be a major factor affecting the physical violence of whites but perhaps not men of other races.Another weakness of this study is that it is never mentioned whether or not any of the subjects were taking any sort of medication. Many types of medications, for example any type Serotonin inhibitor, can affect violent behavior. The fact that the subjects were volunteers raises an issue. The participants responded to an advertisement for free therapy for relationship conflicts. These people wanted help. They were not ordered by the court to obtain therapy. This may suggest that they somehow have a different frame of mind than others who might not seek help, therefore, we cannot make accurate assumptions about the results of the study.Another issue one must take into consideration is that the participants completed a three-hour assessment for which they were not being paid for. They could have become tired, annoyed, bored, or frustrated. This could have affected their answers to the questions asked in the interview to determine whether or not they had MDD. They could also have not been revealing their true selves in the self-report. The interviews were conducted by grad students and a research assistant, not by the actual researchers or by doctors. There is a possibility they could have overlooked things a professional with more experience would have caught.Strengths of the ArticleOne of the strengths of this article is that it stresses the possibility of outside factors affecting the physical violence. An example of this kind of variable is self-reported anger. A relationship where one person is depressed may in fact be a very ch...
