Domestic Violence and Intergenerational Rates of Child Sexual Abuse: A Case Record Analysis

Using case review at a shelter for battered women and their children, this exploratory study investigated the association between physical abuse, exposure to domestic violence and intergenerational occurrence of child sexual abuse. The charts of 570 children were reviewed in an attempt to explore the relationship between the children's experiences with sexual abuse and their nonoffending parent's own history of having been sexually abused. Results indicated that a significant percentage of nonoffending parents who reported a history of child sexual abuse also had children who were sexually abused. Additionally, we found that most (93%) of the children studied had been exposed to domestic violence, and while the base rate of sexual abuse was relatively low (11%), the rate of physical abuse of the children was substantial (41%). Logistic regression results indicated that children of sexually abused nonoffending parents may be at heightened risk for sexual abuse. Implications for treatment and intervention are discussed.     

Sexual abuse,family violence,and female delinquency: findings from a longitudinal study

The current study examines the effects of three forms of childhood victimization on self-reported delinquency and aggression in adolescent girls. These analyses are based on a longitudinal sample of 141 mother-daughter pairs participating in a study about marital violence and child development. When the children were school aged, mothers and children provided reports describing (a) child exposure to marital violence, (b) escalated physical abuse against the child, and (c) child sexual abuse. Children were followed up into adolescence and re-interviewed. Self-reports of delinquency (violent and nonviolent), running away, and violence against parents were collected. Results indicate that out of the three forms of victimization, child sexual abuse emerged as the strongest predictor of girls' violent and nonviolent criminal behavior. Girls with a history of physical abuse in childhood were most likely to assault their parents. Witnessing marital violence failed to contribute further to delinquency, beyond the adverse association with childhood sexual abuse. Findings highlight a unique avenue for delinquency in girls via childhood sexual exploitation.     

Child protection fathers' experiences of childhood,intimate partner violence and parenting

Research on mothers in child protection families has revealed that they often have a history of childhood abuse. Research has also shown that a considerable proportion of child maltreatment co-occurs with intimate partner violence (IPV) towards the mother. However, there is a dearth of research on the childhood histories and IPV victimization experiences of fathers in child protection families. To address these gaps in the literature this exploratory mixed method study of 35 men associated with a parenting program in Australia investigated fathers' childhood experiences, exposure to IPV and concern for their children's safety. Although this study was conducted with a specific group of fathers screened for serious personal problems, the findings suggest that, similar to mothers in child protection families, there are some fathers within typical child protection populations who have histories of childhood abuse and IPV victimization. In addition, many of the fathers in this study tried to protect their children from maltreatment related to the other parent. The main implication of the findings is that child protection fathers who have histories of abuse and IPV victimization should be afforded the same support and assistance as mothers in similar situations.     

Child abuse in the context of domestic violence: prevalence, explanations, and practice implications

This article addresses the following questions: (a) How common is child abuse among domestically violent families? (b) Are there specific patterns of child abuse among domestically violent families? (c) What may explain occurrences of child abuse in domestically violent families? (d) How might domestic violence affect treatment for child abuse? We review research on child abuse in the context of domestic violence. We discuss implications of this research for service-delivery programs for domestically violent families.     

Trauma symptoms, sexual behaviors, and substance abuse: correlates of childhood sexual abuse and HIV risks among men who have sex with men

Childhood sexual abuse is associated with high-risk sexual behavior in men who have sex with men. This study examined psychological and behavioral correlates of HIV risk behavior associated with childhood sexual abuse in a sample of men who have sex with men. Men attending a large gay pride event (N = 647) completed anonymous surveys that assessed demographic characteristics, childhood sexual abuse history, symptoms of dissociation and trauma-related anxiety, borderline personality characteristics, substance use, and sexual risk behavior. Results indicated that men who have a history of childhood sexual abuse were more likely to: engage in high-risk sexual behavior (i.e., unprotected receptive anal intercourse), trade sex for money or drugs, report being HIV positive, and experience non-sexual relationship violence. Results of this study extend previous research to show that men who have sex with men and who have a history of child sexual abuse are more likely to be at high risk for HIV infection.     

The Role of Dissociation in Self-Injurious Behavior among Female Adolescents Who Were Sexually Abused

The study aimed to examine the role of dissociation (persistent versus peritraumatic) in self-injurious behavior among at-risk Israeli female adolescents. In addition, the relationship between childhood sexual abuse, depression, dissociation, and potency was investigated. A convenience sample of 93 female adolescents aged 12 years to 18 years were recruited from institutions for at-risk adolescent girls in Israel. Participants were administered an anonymous self-report questionnaire that included six measures: Demographics, Dissociative Experiences Scale, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, the Peritraumatic Dissociative Experiences Questionnaire, the Traumatic Events Questionnaire, and the Potency Scale. Results indicated that childhood sexual abuse increases the risk for self-injurious behavior more than threefold. Higher levels of persistent dissociation were found among girls who reported child sexual abuse compared to those who did not. Self-injurious behavior was predicted by persistent dissociation. Girls who engaged in self-injurious behavior had lower potency and higher depression levels, regardless of childhood sexual abuse history.     

The joint contribution of experiencing and witnessing violence during childhood on child abuse in the parent role

This article examines adult respondents' abuse of children as a consequence of their own childhood experiences of abuse, both direct experiences of childhood violence (hitting) and exposure to interparental violence (witnessing). In particular, the study examines the extent to which these factors function interactively: Are both experience and exposure necessary or is either sufficient to increase disproportionately the probability of child abuse? Using data from the Second National Family Violence Survey, results of a logistic regression analysis show that either or both factors produced higher than average and relatively similar rates of child abuse. Only respondents with neither form of family violence reported lower than average rates of abuse of their own children. The analysis controlled for gender, race, family income, and family structure; race was the only control variable to be significantly associated with child abuse. Finally, no control variable modified the interaction between the family violence variables.     

Childhood abuse and psychiatric impairment in a sample of welfare to work women

Since 1996, individuals who participate in welfare programs are mandated to find employment. Welfare recipients may have difficulty transitioning to the work force due to impairments in psychosocial functioning. Examples include mental health and substance use disorders, medical problems, academic and learning difficulties, and lack of resources such as childcare and transportation. In addition, many welfare recipients have histories of abuse and violence, which further complicate their job finding efforts given the documented relationship between past maltreatment and psychiatric impairment. An area unexplored is the relationship between a history of childhood abuse and psychiatric impairment in Welfare to Work (WtW) recipients. We evaluated the relationships among demographics, personality pathology, substance abuse, cognitive functioning, and histories of childhood abuse in a group of 158 WtW recipients in order to assess predictors of psychiatric impairment. Results suggest that participants with higher levels of psychiatric impairment also had higher levels of interpersonal problems related to personality pathology, higher drug and alcohol use impairment, and endorsed more severe histories of childhood abuse. Personality pathology, alcohol use severity, and self-reported childhood abuse emerged as the best predictor of psychiatric impairment in this WtW sample. These results have implications for identifying individuals at risk for unsuccessful transition into the work force and for the development of effective rehabilitation strategies that considers the unique needs of women in WtW programs.     

Prevention of child maltreatment in high-risk rural families: A randomized clinical trial with child welfare outcomes

Few studies have specifically examined prevention of child maltreatment among higher-risk populations in rural communities. The overarching goal of this study was to conduct a randomized clinical trial of SafeCare augmented for rural high-risk population (SC+) compared to standard home-based mental health services (SAU) to examine reductions in future child maltreatment reports, as well as risk factors and factors proximal to child maltreatment. Parents (N = 105) of young children (5 years or less) who had identifiable risk of depression, intimate partner violence, or substance abuse were randomized to SC+ or SAU. Participants randomized to SC+ were more likely to enroll (83% vs. 35% for SAU) and remain in services (35 h vs. 8 h for SAU). SC+ (for participants who successfully completed services) may have had limited impact on child welfare reports during service provision. Further, SC+ had fewer child welfare reports related to DV than SAU. Parent self-reports of parenting behaviors, risk factors, and protective factors did not demonstrate significant sustained program impact. Limitations include power constraints related to sample size. Promising next steps entail future trials with larger sample sizes examining service compliance and further augmentation of SafeCare to bolster service impact and address risk and protective factors.     

Factors Associated with Adolescents’ Disclosure of Sexual Abuse Experiences in Hong Kong

This research project is the first study conducted in Hong Kong using adolescent subjects to explore predictors of child sexual abuse disclosure. Eight-hundred male and female adolescents aged 13 to 16 years were recruited from the community while another 30 adolescents joined the study from a clinical setting. One hundred and seventy-seven adolescents acknowledged having a child sexual abuse experience. Results showed that the severity of sexual abuse activities and parent attachment were associated with disclosure in the clinical setting, while abuser’s gender and the adolescents’ disclosure tendency were associated with disclosure among participants in the community setting. Among the 104 participants who had disclosed their childhood sexual abuse, 70% of them had disclosed it within one month and 63% of them had disclosed to 2 to 5 people. The majority of the disclosers (81%) shared their child sexual abuse experience(s) with their friends. Participants from the clinical setting tended to reveal the experience more to adults than those from the community. The study suggested that when choosing a potential confidant, adolescents paid more attention to confidant characteristics than to anticipated confidant responses to their disclosure. Limitations and practical implications for increasing child sexual abuse disclosure rates are discussed.     

The relationships among childhood abuse, borderline personality, and self-harm behavior in psychiatric inpatients

The current study was undertaken to explore the relationships among childhood abuse subtypes (sexual, physical, and emotional abuse; witnessing violence), three diagnostic screenings for borderline personality disorder (BPD), and self-harm behavior. Psychiatric inpatients (N = 77) were evaluated for childhood abuse histories through a survey. Participants also underwent assessment for BPD using a self-report measure, clinical diagnosis, and a DSM-IV checklist. Finally, each was assessed for self-harm behavior using the 22-item Self-Harm Inventory (SHI). Compared with non-abused participants, those with abuse histories (with the exception of witnessing violence) had a significantly greater number of BPD confirmations (i.e., self-report, clinical diagnosis, DSM-IV checklist) as well as self-harm behaviors. When examining the total number of endorsed abuse subtypes, there was a significant correlation with the number of self-harm behaviors, but not the number of BPD diagnoses. Among psychiatric inpatients, childhood abuse demonstrates a complex relationship to BPD diagnoses and self-harm behavior.     

Mothers who killed or attempted to kill their child: life circumstances, childhood abuse, and types of killing

The objectives of the present study were to examine the life circumstances, childhood abuse, and types of homicidal acts of 48 mothers who killed/attempted to kill their child(ren) under age 12 between 1970-96 in Finland. Data on the mothers'life stresses, psychological problems, and childhood abuse were collected from mental state examination (MSE) reports. The cases were divided into 15 neonaticides and 33 mothers who killed an older child. Childhood abuse was documented in 63% of the mothers' MSE reports. Qualitative analysis identified neonaticides,joint homicide-suicide attempts, impulsive aggression, psychotic acts, postpartum depression, and abusive acts. Nonlinear principal components analysis showed that different variables were related to the neonaticide and non-neonaticide cases. We concluded that despite differences in the psychosocial profiles of neonaticides and other maternal homicidal acts the cycle of violence perspective can be applied to both cases, even though it may not be a sufficient explanation for maternal child killings.     

Demographic, psychosocial, and personality characteristics of lesbian batterers

Prevalence of domestic violence (DV) in lesbian and heterosexual relationships appears to be similar. Despite this, few studies have examined factors associated with DV in lesbian relationships, and even fewer have examined characteristics of lesbian batterers. Demographic and psychosocial characteristics and personality traits were examined in 100 lesbians in current relationships (33 Batterers and 67 Nonbatterers). Results indicated that Batterers were more likely to report childhood physical and sexual abuse and higher rates of alcohol problems. Results from the MCMI-III indicated that, after controlling for Debasement and Desirability indices, Batterers were more likely to report aggressive, antisocial, borderline, and paranoid personality traits, and higher alcohol-dependent, drug-dependent, and delusional clinical symptoms compared to Nonbatterers. These results provide support for social learning and psychopathology theoretical models of DV and clinical observations of lesbian batterers, and expand our current DV paradigms to include information about same-sex DV.     

Prevalence of Childhood Sexual Abuse in China: A Meta-Analysis

The objective of the current study was to explore the estimated prevalence of childhood sexual abuse in China. We conducted a meta-analysis that used the data from 36 articles. A total of 125 independent samples and 131,734 participants were included. The results revealed no significant difference in the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse between Chinese men (9.1%) and women (8.9%). The prevalence of childhood sexual abuse in studies from mainland areas was significantly higher than that from Hong Kong/Taiwan. The estimated prevalence of childhood sexual abuse in China also differed according to the definition of child sexual abuse, data collection method, year of data collection, and the mean age of participants at the time of assessment.     

Do Child Abuse and Interparental Violence Lead to Adulthood Family Violence?

The cycle of violence posits that victimized children grow up to victimize others. Three forms of the cycle have never been tested: whether exposure to physical victimization and interparental violence additively or interactively increase risk for adulthood (a) child abuse perpetration; (b) partner abuse perpetration; or (c) partner abuse victimization. These hypotheses were tested in a nationally representative data set (1985 National Family Violence Survey) comprising 6,002 participants. Dually exposed, compared to singly exposed, women had significantly increased risk for adulthood family violence. Frequency of family‐of‐origin violence predicted adulthood child and partner abuse through both main and interactive effects.     

Characteristics of Sexually Abused Children and Their Nonoffending Mothers Followed by Child Welfare Services: The Role of a Maternal History of Child Sexual Abuse

Considering the importance of mother’s support in the adaptation of a sexually abused child, it is relevant to determine if the mothers and children involved in an intergenerational cycle of child sexual victimization differ from dyads in which only the child has been abused. The purpose of this study was to compare mother–child dyads with sexually abused children according to whether the mother had herself been victim of child sexual abuse. The sample included 87 dyads with sexually abused children aged 3–18 years old and their mothers (44 reporting maternal and child abuse), followed by social welfare services of the province of Quebec (Canada). The two groups of mothers were compared on their past family abuse experiences and past family relations, their mental health history, their current psychological distress, their parenting behaviors, and their current levels of family functioning. Children were compared on their adaptation. Multivariate analyses indicated that mothers reporting child sexual abuse were more likely to report more other maltreatments in their childhood and greater prevalence of lifetime history of alcohol abuse disorders, dysthymia, and panic disorder compared with mothers who had not experienced CSA. Compared to children whose mothers had not experienced CSA, those whose mothers had experienced CSA showed higher rates of problems behaviors and were more likely to report having been sexually abused by a trusted person. These results highlight the specific clinical needs for the assessment and treatment for sexually abused children whose mothers experienced child sexual abuse.     

Economic predictors of child maltreatment in an Australian population-based birth cohort

A correlation between socioeconomic disadvantage and child maltreatment has long been observed, but the drivers of this association are poorly understood. We sought to estimate the effects of economic factors on risk of child maltreatment after adjusting for other known influences using the Australian Temperament Project, a population-based birth cohort of 2443 individuals and their parents. We used logistic regression to estimate associations of childhood economic factors (parental education, occupation, and unemployment; type of housing; and retrospective perception of poverty) with retrospective reports of perceived child maltreatment (physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and witnessing of domestic violence), controlling for demographic factors, parental mental health and substance use, and child health. We then used these estimates to approximate the proportions of child maltreatment—population attributable fractions—that are theoretically preventable by addressing childhood economic disadvantage. Economic factors were associated with all types of child maltreatment. For the most part, these associations diminished only partially when controlling for noneconomic confounders, supporting hypotheses of causal relationships. Jointly, economic factors were significant predictors of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and witnessing of domestic violence but not of emotional abuse or neglect. Retrospective perceptions of childhood poverty were, in particular, strongly associated with most forms of child maltreatment but not with sexual abuse after accounting for other economic factors. We estimated that 27% of all child maltreatment was jointly attributable to economic factors. These findings suggest that strategies that reduce economic disadvantage are likely to hold significant potential to reduce the prevalence of child maltreatment.     

Health Professionals' Responses to Disclosure of Child Sexual Abuse History: Female Child Sexual Abuse Survivors' Experiences

This study reports on a postal questionnaire, conducted in 2004, with female survivors of historic child sexual abuse. The questionnaire explored their experiences of health professionals' responsiveness to disclosure of child sexual abuse history. Of 61 participants, aged between 22 and 65, 69% had disclosed to health professionals. Those who had not disclosed reported that they would have liked to but were not asked about child sexual abuse. Thirty-five percent of participants suggested routine questioning about child sexual abuse. Most participants related a fear of common medical examination procedures to their experience of child sexual abuse, and 64% said this stopped them from attending regular health checks. The current study suggests the development of guidelines for dealing with possible child sexual abuse survivors would be useful for health professionals.     

Engagement in Child Protective Services: The Role of Substance Abuse,Intimate Partner Violence and Race

Effectively engaging parents has been a continuing challenge for child protection workers. A lack of engagement can lead to significant negative consequences for families. This preliminary study explored the ability of family factors (e.g.; legal involvement, history with child protective services, substance abuse, child placement, intimate partner violence, identifying as Black, Latino or biracial) to predict parent engagement with child welfare services. A four dimensional measure of engagement with child protective services (Yatchmenoff, Res Soc Work Pract 15(2):84–96, 2005) was used which included receptivity, buy-in, working relationship and mistrust. The variables of parental substance abuse, intimate partner violence and identifying as Black, Latino or biracial were significant predictors of all four dimensions of engagement although each dimension was predicted by a unique combination of these factors. Substance abuse positively predicted engagement while intimate partner violence and identifying as Black, Latino or biracial negatively predicted engagement. The implications of these findings for child protection practice are described. Recommendations are made for future research.