Child Maltreatment, Youth Violence, & Intimate Partner Violence-Developmental Relationships-Study

New Study: Some Child Abuse Victims More Likely to Commit Youth, Partner Violence

October 11, 2007

Some people are caught in a cycle of violence, perhaps beginning with their own abuse as a child and continuing into adulthood. To interrupt the pattern, it is important to understand how childhood experiences relate to behavior later in life.

A new study finds that people who suffer certain kinds of abuse or neglect as children are more likely than their peers to perpetrate both youth violence and intimate partner violence (IPV). “Child Maltreatment, Youth Violence, and Intimate Partner Violence – Developmental Relationships” is published in the October issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. It examines the relationship between child maltreatment and perpetration of youth violence and IPV, and between child maltreatment and being a victim of youth violence and IPV.

Compared with non-victims, the study finds, victims of child maltreatment are more likely to commit youth violence (up to 7 percent more likely for females and 12 percent more likely for males). They are also more likely to commit young adult IPV (up to 10 percent more likely for females and 17 percent more likely for males). It also finds:

The correlation between IPV perpetration and child maltreatment in the forms of physical abuse and neglect is stronger among females.

The link between child sexual abuse and future IPV perpetration is significant for males but not for females.

There is less of a correlation between having been a victim of childhood abuse and neglect and becoming a victim of youth violence or IPV.

Researchers conclude that preventing child maltreatment may be key to preventing youth violence, and that interventions targeting youth violence may help prevent future domestic and dating violence.

The study was conducted by Xiangming Fang, PhD, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Phaedra S. Corso, PhD, Department of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, University of Georgia. They analyzed data from more than 9,300 respondents of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health in 1994-1995 and a follow-up study in 2001-2002.

To obtain a copy of the full report, contact eAJPM@ucsd.edu.