Original Articles
Exposure to Interparental Violence in Childhood and Psychosocial Adjustment in Young Adulthood 1

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Abstract

Objective: To study the relationships between retrospective reports of exposure to interparental violence in childhood and rates of psychosocial adjustment problems in young adulthood in a birth cohort of New Zealand subjects.

Method: Data were gathered during the course of an 18 year longitudinal study of a birth cohort of 1,265 New Zealand children. At age 18 retrospective reports of exposure to interparental violence were obtained. At this time the cohort was also assessed on measures of psychosocial adjustment including mental health problems, substance abuse behaviors, and criminal offending.

Results: Young people reporting high levels of exposure to interparental violence had elevated rates of adjustment problems at age 18. These problems included mental health problems, substance abuse behaviors and criminal offending. Analyses using multiple logistic regression showed that much of this elevated risk was explained by social and contextual factors associated with exposure to interparental violence. However, even after adjustment for confounding factors, exposure to father initiated violence was associated with increased risks of anxiety, conduct disorder and property crime, while exposure to mother initiated violence was associated only with increased risks of later alcohol abuse/dependence.

Conclusion: Children exposed to high levels of interparental violence are an at risk population for psychosocial adjustment problems in young adulthood. Much of the elevated risk of these children arises from the social context within which interparental violence occurs. Nonetheless, exposure to interparental violence, and particularly father initiated violence, may be associated with later increased risks of anxiety, conduct disorder, problems with alcohol, and criminal offending.

Résumé

Objectifs: Évaluer chez un groupe de jeunes adultes de la Nouvelle Zélande le lien possible entre leur taux de mésadaptation psycho-sociale courante et la violence entre leur père et leur mère, lorsque ces jeunes étaient enfants ou adolescents.

Méthode: Les données ont été recueillies auprès de 1.265 enfants de la Nouvelle-Zélande, allant de la naissance jusqu’à l’âge de 18 ans. Cet âge atteint, on les a questionnés sur les rapports violents entre leur père et leur mère au cours de ces années précédentes. On a aussi évalué leur niveau actuel d’adaptation psycho-sociale, y compris des difficultés mentales, l’abus de drogues et d’alcool et la criminalité.

Résultats: Les jeunes qui ont grandi dans un foyer oů il y avait de la violence entre conjoints démontrent un taux de mésadaptation élevé. On a noté des difficultés de santé mentale, l’abus de drogues et d’alcool et des comportements criminels. Le risque de connâtre de telles difficultés s’explique par des facteurs sociaux et contextuels associés à la violence entre leurs parents. Toutefois, prenant en considération des facteurs condondants, on a noté que la violence paternelle apporte un risque d’angoisse, de désordre du comportement et de crimes contre la propriété d’autrui tandis que la violence initiée par la mère occasionnerait des problèmes d’abus et de dépendance sur l’alcool.

Conclusions: Les enfants exposés à des niveaux élevés de violence entre leur père et leur mère risquent de connaître des difficultés d’adaptation en tant que jeunes adultes. Ceci découle du contexte social dans lequel se déroule la violence. Toutefois, la violence entre conjoints et surtout lorqu’elle est initiée par le père, peut s’associer éventuellement à un taux élevé d’angoisse, de troubles de comportement, de problèmes d’alcool et de comportement criminel.

Resumen

Objetivo: Estudiar en una muestra de jóvenes adultos de Nueva Zelanda, la relación entre las notificaciones retrospectivas de exposición en la infancia a violencia interparental y las tasas de problemas de ajuste psicosocial.

Método: Los datos fueron recogidos durante la realización de una investigación longitudinal de 18 años de duración con una muestra de 126 niños de Nueva Zelanda. Cuando los sujetos tenı́an 18 años, se obtuvieron datos retrospectivos sobre la exposición a situaciones de violencia interparental. En el mismo momento, los sujetos fueron también evaluados medidas de ajuste psicosocial que incluı́an problemas de salud mental, abus de sustancias tóxicas y conductas delictivas.

Resultados: Los sujetos evaluados que notificaron altos niveles de exposición a situaciones de violencia interparental, presentaron altas tasas de problemas de ajuste a los 18 años. Se incluı́an problemas de salud ment abuso de sustancias tóxicas y conductas criminales. Los análisis de regresión logı́stica mostraron que una parte importante de la varianza de dichos problemas fue explicado por factores sociales y contextuales asociados a la exposición a situaciones de violencia familiar. Sin embargo, incluso después de realizar los ajustes correspondientes con las variables extrañas, la exposición a la violencia iniciada por el padre estaba asociada con un mayor riesgo de ansiedad, trastornos de conducta y delitos contra la propiedad, mientras que la exposición a la violencia iniciada por la madre estaba asociada sólo con un aumento en el riesgo de abuso o dependencia alcohol.

Conclusión: Los niños/as expuestos a niveles elevados de violencia interparental son una población de riesgo para presentar problemas de ajust psicolóιco en la juventud. Una parte importante de este riesgo elevado proviene del contexto social dentro del cual ocurre la violencia interparental. Sin embargo, la exposición a la violencia interparental, y particularmente a la iniciada por el padre, puede ser asociada con un riesgo más elevado de presentar en el futuro más sintomas de ansiedad, trastorno de conducta, problemas con el alcohol y conductas delictivas.

Introduction

There has been continued research into the prevalence, correlates, causes, and consequences of interpartner violence (for reviews of this area see, for example, Gelles and Cornell 1990; Hotaling et al 1988; Mullender and Morley 1994; Straus et al 1980). One aspect of this issue that has been of concern has been the extent to which childhood exposures to interparental violence may have adverse effects on the children who witness this violence. There appears to be a widespread belief that children who witness violence between their parents are at greater risks of later adjustment difficulties that may include behavioral problems and mental health disorders, aggressive and antisocial behaviors, substance abuse and juvenile crime. While there has been relatively little research into the specific effects of exposure to interparental violence on personal adjustment, there has been considerable research into the more general issue of the extent to which marital conflicts have adverse effects on the adjustment of children. As Moffitt and Caspi (in press)observe, issues of interparental violence may be interpreted as being a special case of this more general literature.

There is substantial evidence to suggest that children who are exposed to parental conflicts are an at risk group for a wide range of adjustment difficulties during childhood and in later life. For example, Grych and Fincham (1990)reviewed a series of 19 studies of the association between marital conflict and the adjustment of children. They found that 15 of the studies reviewed produced evidence to suggest that children exposed to parental conflict were at greater risk of adjustment difficulties. They concluded “recent research documents a modest but consistent relationship between interparental conflict and children’s adjustment” (p. 269).

In contrast to the literature on marital conflict and childhood adjustment, the literature on the effects of observing interparental violence on children has been more limited and has been based on relatively small or selected samples. Fantuzzo and Lindquist (1989)identified 23 studies covering 1,069 children that examined the linkages between interparental violence and childhood adjustment. This review suggested elevated rates of behavioral, emotional, and other problems in children exposed to interparental violence. However, these authors noted that these studies were characterized by a number of limitations including: the frequent use of biased samples; inadequate control for confounding, particularly for sociodemographic influences and also for other forms of family violence for example child abuse; a lack of definition of the nature/extent of violence and of the child’s exposure to it; the use of a limited array of measures of childhood outcomes; and a general lack of longitudinal studies of the effects of interparental violence.

The evidence reviewed by Grych and Fincham and by Fantuzzo and Lindquist may be supplemented by a series of other studies that also have suggested that exposure to interparental conflict and violence is associated with increased rates of adjustment difficulties in childhood (Fantuzzo et al 1991; Hughes 1988; McCloskey et al 1995), adolescence (Fergusson et al 1992; Fergusson and Lynskey 1995; Fergusson et al 1996) and adulthood (Kalmuss 1984; Owens and Straus 1975). Given the weight of the accumulated evidence, there can be little doubt that children reared in families characterized by interparental conflicts or interparental violence are an at risk group for a wide range of problems of later adjustment that may include behavior problems, mental health problems, substance use behaviors, and juvenile crime. However, while associations between interparental conflict and children’s adjustment have been well documented, there are a number of issues that require examination.

First, the majority of studies in this area have focused on the effects of generalized marital conflicts rather than the specific effects of exposure to interparental violence. While generalized marital conflict and interparental violence are likely to be closely related it may be suggested that the effects of interparental violence on adjustment may differ from the effects of marital conflict. There is thus a need to examine the extent to which exposure to interparental violence per se has effects on individual adjustment.

Second, many of the studies in this general area have been based on small samples, selected samples or samples that have been studied cross-sectionally or over a limited period of time (Fantuzzo and Lindquist 1989; Grych and Fincham 1990). It may be suggested that a better approach to examining the effects of interparental violence and conflicts on adjustment is through the use of longitudinal studies that examine the linkages between exposure to parental conflict and adjustment difficulties at various stages of the life course (Fantuzzo and Lindquist 1989; Grych and Fincham 1990).

Third, a major threat to validity in studies of the effects of parental conflict on individual adjustment comes from potentially confounding social, family and contextual factors that may be associated with both increased rates of marital conflict and increased risks of adjustment problems. In particular, the evidence suggests that marital conflict and interparental violence are not uniformly distributed across the population and are more likely to occur in families characterized by social and economic disadvantage (Fergusson et al 1986; Gelles and Cornell 1990), parental separation and divorce (Fergusson et al 1992), families facing stress and difficulties (Gelles and Cornell 1990; Straus et al 1980) and among parents having adjustment difficulties (Gelles and Cornell 1990; Straus et al 1980). These factors are very similar to a range of psychosocial factors that have been found to be related to a wide range of child and adolescent adjustment difficulties including behavior problems, mental health problems, substance abuse, and juvenile crime. It may be suggested therefore that, to some extent, linkages between parental conflict and children’s adjustment arise because of the social and family context within which parental conflicts occur rather than from a cause and effect relationship in which exposure to parental conflict increases individual vulnerability to adjustment difficulties. This issue has been examined in a number of studies that have adjusted the associations between marital conflict and children’s adjustment (Fergusson et al 1992; Hughes 1988). In general, these studies have suggested that independently of social and family context, children exposed to parental conflicts are at an increased risk of adjustment difficulties. These findings are clearly consistent with the view that there is a cause and effect association between exposure to parental conflict and children’s adjustment. In their review of this issue, Grych and Fincham (1990)suggest that this association may arise from a series of factors and processes that lead children exposed to marital conflict to be at greater risk of adjustment difficulties. These factors and processes include the psychosocial context within which conflict occurs, the nature and extent of the conflict, children’s perceptions and interpretations of the conflict between their parents, and the child’s abilities to cope with distressing and stressful family circumstances.

Fourth, there is a need to examine the extent to which father initiated violence and mother initiated violence have effects on later adjustment. To date most research in this area has focused on domestic violence committed by fathers and less attention has been paid to the issue of whether exposure to mother initiated violence has harmful consequences for children. This issue is clearly of importance in the light of growing survey based evidence that suggests that males and females assault their partners at similar rates (Archer and Ray 1989; Henton et al 1993; Magdol et al 1997; Stets and Straus 1990).

Against this general background this paper reports on the results of an 18 year longitudinal study of the relationships between exposure to interparental violence in childhood and adjustment in early adulthood in a sample of over 1,000 New Zealand children who have been studied from birth to the age of 18. The aims of this study were:

  • 1.

    To document the prevalence and spectrum of interparental violence based on accounts of 18 year olds about the nature and extent of violent behaviors between their parents during their childhood.

  • 2.

    To examine the relationship between the extent of reported interparental violence in childhood and rates of mental health problems, substance abuse, criminal offending and associated difficulties at age 18.

  • 3.

    To examine the extent to which associations between reported childhood exposure to interparental violence and adjustment at age 18 could be explained by confounding social and contextual factors that were associated with exposure to interparental violence.

  • 4.

    To examine the extent to which risks of adjustment problems at age 18 were associated with father initiated violence and mother initiated violence.

More generally, the principal aim of this analysis was to determine the extent to which varying exposures to interparental violence were associated with increased risks of later adjustment problems when due allowance was made for the social and family context in which this violence occurred.

Section snippets

Method

The data reported here were collected during the course of the Christchurch Health & Development Study (CHDS). The CHDS is a longitudinal study of a birth cohort of 1,265 children born in the Christchurch (New Zealand) urban region during mid 1977. These children have been studied at birth, 4 months, 1 year, and at annual intervals to the age of 16 years and again at age 18 years. An overview of the study design has been given previously (Fergusson et al 1989). The data analyzed in this report

The Prevalence of Reported Childhood Exposure to Interparental Violence

Table 1 shows the rates (%) at which young people in the cohort reported exposure to interparental violence during childhood. These reports are based on responses to an 8 item checklist derived from the Conflict Tactics Scales (Straus 1979). Two measures of interparental violence are considered. The first reports violent acts initiated by the father, the second reports violent acts initiated by the mother. The following features are evident from the Table.

  • 1.

    Reports of interparental violence

Discussion

In this study we have used data gathered over the course of an 18 year longitudinal study to examine the relationships between exposure to interparental violence in childhood and adjustment in young adulthood. The major findings and conclusions from this study are reviewed below.

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    This research was funded by grants from the Health Research Council of New Zealand, the National Child Health Research Foundation, the Canterbury Medical Research Foundation, and the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board.

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