Children as Witness to Marital Violence: A Risk Factor for Life Long Problems Among a Nationally Representative Sample of American Men and Women

Abstract

VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper by Straus was to identify the risk factors involved in witnessing marital violence as a child. METHODOLOGY: This paper presented findings from The National Family Violence Survey, which was conducted in 1985 on a nationally representative sample of 6,002 respondents. The original questionnaire was reprinted in Intimate Violence. It was assumed that witnessing violence confounds with other variables. Four factors were controlled for: sex, age, the family socioeconomic status (SES), and receiving violence at the hands of parents. Questions in the survey also determined who did the hitting (mother, father, or both). The analysis utilized in this paper was analysis of covariance. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: This report estimated that every year over 10 million American children witness a physical assault between their parents. For two thirds of these children this was not likely their first and only exposure. Risk factors identified when having witnessed violence between ones parents included: physical and mental health problems; drinking and drug use; marital conflict and abuse; physical abuse of children; and assaults and other crimes outside of the family. 12.6% of the respondents in the survey reported having witnessed violence between their parents. From this group 50% reported being struck by their father only; 31% reported being struck by both parents; and 19% reported being struck by their mother only. The author noted that these results would reflect minimum estimates because most parents do not fight in front of their children and memory of incidents witnessed at a younger age may have been suppressed. Interestingly, when questioned, parental respondents reported an annual rate of domestic violence at 16%, with an annual prevalence rate of 30%. The effects of parental violence was thought to be confounded with variables such as child abuse and SES. The means of controlling for child abuse was measured by asking the respondents if, when they were teenagers, their parents had ever used physical punishment. 58% of all male respondents and 44% of all women respondents remembered having been hit as a teenager. The author decided that these percentages could not entirely control for having been a victim, because the peak years for hitting children are between three and four years of age, when it is reported that 90% of all American children are victims of violence by their parents. After controlling for the four confounders of having been a recipient of violence, age, sex of respondent, and family SES, an analysis of covariance was conducted. This analysis found six effects from having witnessed parental violence: physical health problems, mental health problems, drinking and drug use, marital conflict and abuse, child abuse, and violence and as well as other crimes outside of the family. Although not significant, those having witnessed violence between their parents reported poorer health, more time spent in bed, and more periods of depression with increased feelings of stress. They also displayed slightly higher scores on the somatic symptoms index. Men who witnessed violence reported higher intoxication rates, whereas both men and women who witnessed violence reported higher drug use. Also, drug use rates were much higher when the mother had used violence on the father. Coercion, verbal abuse and physical violence were used most often by those who witnessed violence in their home. The rate of wife abuse and severe violence, punching, kicking, and assaulting with objects, was significantly higher for those men who witnessed violence by their parents, particularly if the mother was violent. Parents who use violence towards each other were more inclined to abuse their children. Also, parents who witnessed violence during their childhood were found to be more verbally and physically abusive to their children. This rate doubled when both of the respondents parents had been violent. An association between violence outside the family and violence within the home was also reported. Men who witnessed violence as children were two to three times as likely to use assaultive behavior. On the other hand, women were more likely to use assaultive behavior only if they had witnessed their mothers attacking their fathers. Arrest rates were three times higher for men than for women who witnessed violence during childhood. In addition, the correlation of witnessing violence at home violence outside the home was higher for males than for females. The author stated that witnessing violence as a child puts one at risk for social and psychological problems. This was true regardless of ones SES, or whether or not the child had received physical abuse. The author noted problems associated with the respondent's past recall and possible bias towards their parents. However, in not having considered the severity and chronicity of the violence the child witnessed, time would only have lessened the effect on a child's memory. In conclusion, the author stated that, while other studies had demonstrated that a child witnessing violence in the home was prone to future social and psychological problems, those studies did not control for confounding variables, such as victimization and SES. Although, this paper did not control for stress, or martial stability and harmony, it did report a stronger link to violence for having been a witness as a child. AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS: The author did not address processes that may produce the link between witnessing violence and future risk factors; however, he included those that were addressed in two other studies (Jaffee, Wolfe, Wilson, 1990, and by Merchant and Tomkins, 1991). The following effects are believed to produce a link: modeling behaviors such as violence and coercion that are carried out when the child becomes an adult; the unavailability for the child to observe and learn social competence and negotiation; a post-traumatic-stress syndrome effect on the child; the dulling empathy and effect stemming from repeated exposure to violence against the people they love; and finally, the lack of parenting skills by the partner who received the abuse. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) Child Victim Child Witness Children of Battered Women Spouse Abuse Effects Domestic Violence Effects Domestic Violence Victim Devlopmental Risk Factors Interparental Violence Witnessing Spouse Abuse Witnessing Violence Effects Child Abuse Effects Child Abuse Victim Psychological Victimization Effects Partner Violence Violence Against Women Long-Term Effects Child Development Juvenile Development Youth Development Adult Crime Adult Violence Adult Offender Adult Health Adult Mental Health Adult Adjustment Child Abuse Causes Child Abuse Offender Child Abuse Risk Factors Child Physical Abuse Risk Factors Child Physical Abuse Offender Child Physical Abuse Causes Domestic Violence Causes Domestic Violence Offender Domestic Violence Risk Factors Crime Causes Crime Risk Factors Childhood Experience Childhood Victimization Emotional Adjustment Victim Adjustment Witness Adjustment Victim Turned Offender Marital Conflict Spouse Abuse Causes Spouse Abuse Risk Factors Spouse Abuse Offender Adult Substance Use Substance Use Causes Substance Use Risk Factors 09-04

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