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Journal Article
This article begins to build knowledge of how non-violent coercive controlling behaviours can be central to children's experiences of domestic violence. It considers how children can be harmed by, and resist, coercive controlling tactics perpetrated by their father/father-figure against their mother. Already, we know much about how women/mothers experience non-physical forms of domestic violence, including psychological/emotional/verbal and financial abuse, isolation and monitoring of their activities. However, this knowledge has not yet reached most research on children and domestic violence…
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Journal Article
The ongoing longitudinal Adverse Childhood Experiences Study of adults has found significant associations between chronic conditions; quality of life and life expectancy in adulthood; and the trauma and stress associated with adverse childhood experiences, including physical or emotional abuse or neglect, deprivation, or exposure to violence. Less is known about the population-based epidemiology of adverse childhood experiences among US children. Using the 2011–12 National Survey of Children’s Health, we assessed the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences and associations between them…
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Journal Article
Purpose: To examine evidence of the continuity in abusive discipline across two generations (G1 and G2) and the role of safe, stable, and nurturing relationships (SSNRs) as protective factors. Methods: Data are from the Lehigh Longitudinal Study, a prospective investigation of the causes and consequences child maltreatment that began in the 1970s with a sample of 457 children and their parents. Data were most recently collected in 2008-2010 from 80% of the original child sample (N = 357) when they were adults age 36 years on average. Of those assessed as adults, 268 participants (G2s) were…
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Journal Article
Purpose: We examine two research questions. First, does a history of child maltreatment victimization significantly increase the likelihood of maltreatment perpetration during adulthood? Second, do safe, stable, and nurturing relationships (SSNRs) during early adulthood serve as direct protective factors, buffering protective factors, or both to interrupt intergenerational continuity in maltreating behaviors? Methods: Data come from the Rochester Youth Development Study that followed a community sample from age 14 to 31 with 14 assessments. Maltreatment victimization records covering birth…
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Journal Article
This commentary is an introduction to a journal issue showcasing the latest research initiatives that examine the intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment and investigate the moderating effects of safe, stable, nurturing relationships (SSNRs) on continuity of the intergenerational cycle of maltreatment. It discusses research findings on the positive relationship between child maltreatment in one generation and child maltreatment in the next and factors that may moderate the effects of child maltreatment. 29 references.
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Journal Article
The saying "violence begets violence" is an apt descriptor of the cycle of family violence, as children who witness parental violence are at high risk for repeating family violence in their own adult intimate relationships. Neuroscience research suggests that emotional regulation may be an important link in the heritability of family violence, and promotes awareness of the importance of internalizing as well as externalizing responses to stress, neglect, and abuse. This study argues for a trauma-informed approach to identifying children and parents whose symptoms of emotional dysregulation…
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Journal Article
The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationships among selected family interaction variables and psychosocial outcomes in a sample of Jamaican adolescents. The authors hypothesized that adolescent psychosocial outcomes would be negatively associated with physical violence, verbal aggression would be more potent than physical violence, and the combined effect of all aggression and violence would be more detrimental than either form of aggression by itself. Overall, the results supported the authors' hypotheses about the detrimental effects of negative family interactions on…
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Using an ecological framework, this study investigated African-American fathers' use of five protective strategies to keep their preschool children safe from community violence. Father, child, and contextual predictors of fathers' protective strategies were also examined. In-depth interviews with 61 African-American Head Start fathers and father figures revealed that participants were most likely to adopt the strategy of monitoring and teaching personal safety, followed by teaching neighborhood survival tactics, reducing exposure to violent media, engaging in community activism, and…
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Journal Article
The salience of spirituality in African American family life is well documented. However, less is known about the role of spirituality in the parenting styles and practices of African American fathers generally or among those fathers rearing children in under-resourced, high-violence neighborhoods. African American families are disproportionately represented in communities characterized by violence, crime, and drug activity. This study explores how fathers residing in these neighborhoods rear their preschool sons and daughters and how spirituality relates to their fathering practices and…
