Child Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence and Parent Aggression in Two Generations

Statement of the Problem: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a complex and significant public health problem with adverse physical and mental health consequences not only for adults involved but also for the children who are exposed to IPV. However, the impact of IPV exposure on children's adjustment has shown substantial variability. The proposed study draws upon Dynamic Development Systems Theory to examine IPV dynamics and family/child risk and protective factors and processes that relate to children's adjustment, including psychopathology, social competence, and academic achievement into adolescence. The current sutdy advances the field in important regards. The inclusion of dyadic aggression data across multiple family contexts, over two generations, will help build theory and inform more tailored, timely interventions.

Subjects: We will conduct a secondary analysis study using a prospective multi-generation data set involving the children (N=265, approx. 50% of girls at age 5 years) of the Oregon Youth Study (OYS) men and the children's biological mothers (even if the couple has separated) from the Three Generational Study (3GS). At enrollment into the OYS in Grade 4, the men were at risk for aggression (by virtue of living in neighborhoods with relativel high rates of juvenile delinquency) and from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

Research Design, Methods, Analysis: The available 3GS data set includes two generations with childhood data on each (i.e., developmental history of the OYS fathers and their offspring), and includes 5 waves of IPV and 6 waves of child adjustment data for the offspring over a 12-year period using a multiagent/method measurement strategy. We will first examine (1) moderation of early childhood proximal associations between exposure to violence (IPV and parent aggression) and child adjustment by child and parent gender. Next, we will capitalize on the prospective, longitudinal design to examine (2) how the developmental timing of violence exposure may effect changes in offspring adjustment across adolescence; (3) risk and protective factors (e.g., child emotion regulation, parent monitoring) that may mediate associations between violence exposure in childhood and adolescence adjustment; (4) intergenerational transmission of IPV (and parent aggression) and the circumstances whereby parents' developemental risk factors (e.g., exposure to IPV during childhood) increase the occurrence of IPV (and parent aggression) in adulthood and the risk of child adjustment difficulties.

Products, Repors, and Data Archiving: Study results will be disseminated via local and national meetings and in manuscripts submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals.

Note: This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law.

ca/ncf