NCJ Number
148362
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1994) Pages: 63- 78
Date Published
1994
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Data were collected on 185 children from 120 families who were residing with their mothers at shelters for battered women, in order to examine the relationship between marital violence, parent-child aggression, and child behavior problems. The children ranged in age from 7 to 13 years.
Abstract
Among other measures, the mothers completed the Child Behavior Checklist and subscales of the Conflict Tactic Scales. The results showed that the children were severely affected by their parents' marital situation; on externalizing behavior problems, more than 21 percent had severe problems, while 31 percent scored high on the internalizing problem scale. Children who were severely disturbed were more likely to have witnessed a greater frequency and/or severity of marital violence and to have experienced more mother-child aggression. Both girls and boys displayed elevated scores on externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. However, father-child aggression was not related to either score. Some results suggest that girls from violent homes may suffer more in terms of behavior problems than boys from similar backgrounds. Age and race were also significant factors of behavior problems. 4 tables and 29 references