The women all had a child age 17 and under at home and were interviewed by telephone in the summer of 1985 as part of the National Family Violence Resurvey. The analyses controlled for family income, race, the number of minor children in the home, the age of the abused child, the mother's education, and whether the mother was a single parent. Physical abuse was measured with the Conflicts Tactics Scale. Findings showed that the younger the mother at the time of birth of the abused child, the greater the rate of child abuse. However, no significant relationship was found between abuse and the mother's age at the time of the abuse. Large families and minority children were also found to be at greater risk of abuse. Implications for research and prevention. Figures and 41 references.