The participants were 598 adults drawn from an initial convenience sample of 980 male and female adults. The participants completed self-report measures designed to assess childhood physical abuse, perceptions of early and current social support, and risk factors for child physical abuse. The study used structural equation modeling to test and cross validate a model that included both direct effects and mediated effects. Results revealed that childhood physical abuse and early social support covaried in that experiencing physical abuse was associated with lower levels of perceived early social support. Early support, but not child physical abuse, had an indirect, through current support, on the risk of child physical abuse. More specifically, levels of early support directly related to adult perceptions of support, and adult perceptions of support were inversely associated with the risk of child physical abuse. Childhood physical abuse was directly related to the risk of child physical abuse. The analysis concluded that low levels of early support may affect the risk for child physical abuse by affecting perceptions of others as supportive in adulthood, but experiencing childhood physical abuse does not appear to affect perceptions of support in adulthood. Findings indicated the need for research to determine additional factors that may explain the association between experiencing physical abuse in childhood and the increased risk of child physical abuse in adulthood. Figures, tables, and 25 references (Author abstract modified)