Research That Matters (January 17 - 20, 2008)

Purpose: Studies indicate that children who suffer child maltreatment or whose parents engage in intimate partner violence (IPV) have a greater likelihood of victimization or perpetration of IPV as adults (Herrenkohl, et al, 2004; Werkerle's, et al, 2001; Magdol, et al, 1998). Research finds a positive correlation between parent IPV and child maltreatment, where maltreated children are more likely be exposed to IPV (Yate, Dodds, Sroufe, and Egeland, 2003). The meta-emotion philosophy (MEP), and the social development model (SDM) are frameworks from which to explain childhood risk and protective factors predicting family violence perpetration and victimization in adulthood (Catalano and Hawkins, 1996; Gottmann, Katz, and Hooven, 1996). The aim of this paper is to explore child and adolescent concurrent risk and protective factors outlined by the MEP and SDM models to predict the likelihood of IPV exposure during emerging adulthood.

Methods: The analysis includes 397 participants in the Raising Health Children (RHC) Project who reported being in a romantic relationship at the age 19 or 20. Overall, 8.5% reported perpetrating IPV and 12.4% reported being victimized by an intimate partner. Childhood risk factors include exposure to parental IPV (hitting, slapping, and yelling), family conflict (throwing things, hitting, and criticizing), harsh parenting (threats and actually hitting, yelling at child), and teacher reported antisocial behavior from ages 6 to 12. Risk factors during adolescence included exposure to violence in the home (anyone in the home attacked each other) and teen reported family conflict (family members criticize, fight a lot). Dependent variables include relationship quality scales, conflict resolution (suggested a compromise, could work out problems together) and relationship bonding (do things together, get help for problems) and emerging adult IPV perpetration (purposely hurt; hit, punch, bit, slap) and victimization (have been hit, punch, slapped, bit).

Results: Initial sequential multiple regressions find that IPV exposure and parent reported child bonding (ages 6 – 12) significantly predicted romantic relationship bonding at age 19 and 20, and youth reported bonding to parents during adolescence (ages 13 - 18) predicts romantic relationship bonding. Logistic regressions show that emerging adults who report greatest relationship bonding are twice as likely to report IPV victimization (OR: 2.14, p < 0.03). Emerging adult conflict resolution skills significantly protect against both IPV victimization (OR: 0.712, p < 0.05) and perpetration (OR: 0.635, p < 0.05). Parent reported IPV during childhood (ages 6 – 12) also significantly predicted an increased risk of IPV victimization during emerging adulthood (OR: 1.89, p < 0.05).

Implications: These findings confirm previous studies that show the long term effects of IPV exposure during childhood. The findings also provide support for the SDM framework, where bonding to abusive parents as well as abusive intimate partner seems to predict increased likelihood of IPV victimization in early adulthood relationships.