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Frequency of Parental Violence Against Children in Chinese Families: Impact of Age and Gender

NCJ Number
173657
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 13 Issue: 2 Dated: June 1998 Pages: 113-130
Author(s)
C S-K Tang
Date Published
1998
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This survey examined the impact of child and parent gender on parental violence across age span of children and their parents in Hong Kong Chinese families, based on a randomly selected community sample of 1,019 households.
Abstract
The telephone survey was conducted in November 1995; participants included 359 men and 660 women between 19 and 63 years of age and 565 boys and 454 girls 16 years of age or younger. The frequency of parental violence against children was assessed using the Conflict Tactics Scale. Results showed boys generally experienced more frequent parental violence than girls and mothers engaged in more violent behaviors against their children than fathers. Parental violence showed a curvilinear pattern with age of children, peaking at 8 years of age for boys and at 3 years of age for girls. There was a pattern of declining frequency of parental violence as parental age increased across child gender. Fathers exhibited an inverted "U" pattern of violent behavior against their children, with a peak between 31 and 40 years of age, while mothers exhibited a steadily declining trend until 46 years of age. Separate parental violence indexes are constructed for boys and girls. 33 references, 4 tables, and 5 figures