The analysis extends an earlier study (Straus et al., 1980) using a larger and broader sample (3,229 versus 1,141) that includes children from birth through age 17 (the previous study began at age 3) and children in single-parent families (a possibly high-risk group that was not in the earlier study). The respondents are parents of a nationally representative sample of children. Rates of abuse are presented by the age and gender of children, gender of parent, and parental occupational status. The rate for parents using any violence, including physical punishment, peaked at 91 percent for 3-to 4-year-olds. Both the incidence rate and chronicity of physical punishment declined with increasing age; however, age was not significant for physical abuse. Other variables had no important effect on these age findings. There were no significant main effects of gender of child or gender of parent on rates of chronicity of either physical punishment or physical abuse. The rate of abuse among blue-collar parents was almost twice that of white-collar parents. 50 references.