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Gender Differences in the Connections Between Violence Experienced as a Child and Perpetration of Intimate Partner Violence in Young Adulthood

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Abstract

This paper uses longitudinal and nationally representative survey data to investigate the direct relationship between three forms of child maltreatment (neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse), and future intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration in the USA. We further examine the indirect effect that child maltreatment has on future IPV perpetration through the presence of youth violence perpetration, and the roles of socioeconomic factors on committing youth violence and IPV. Analyses indicate that gender differences exist for the developmental relationship between child maltreatment and young adult IPV perpetration, and the effects of socioeconomic factors on youth violence and IPV perpetration. For males, the direct effects of being neglected/physically abused as a child on IPV perpetration are not significant. However, the indirect effects of being neglected/physically abused on IPV perpetration through the presence of youth violence perpetration are significant. For females, the direct effects of being neglected/physically abused on IPV perpetration are significant. The indirect effect of being neglected on IPV perpetration is significant, while the indirect effect of childhood physical abuse is not significant. Childhood sexual abuse is not significantly directly associated with IPV perpetration for females; however, for males, it is the strongest (i.e., largest effect size) direct predictor of IPV perpetration. The indirect effects of childhood sexual abuse on IPV perpetration are not significant for both females and males.

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Notes

  1. The number $8.3 billion is measured in 2003 dollars.

  2. Bootstrapping is the current preferred method for nonlinear estimators and has largely replaced the delta method (See Horowitz, 2001; Efron and Tibshirani, 1993).

  3. Because of the shape of age–crime curve (see Farrington, 1986; Hindelang, 1981), we also include age squared as a control variable.

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Acknowledgements

This research uses data from Add Health, a program project designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris, and funded by a grant P01-HD31921 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 17 other agencies. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Persons interested in obtaining data files from Add Health should contact Add Health, Carolina Population Center, 123 W. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-2524 (addhealth@unc.edu). The authors would like to thank the following individuals for their helpful comments on this manuscript: Daniel Whitaker, James Mercy, Qian An, Jennifer Wyatt, Rebecca Leeb, and John R. Lutzker. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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  1. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, MS F-64, Atlanta, GA, 30341, USA

    Xiangming Fang

  2. Department of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    Phaedra S. Corso

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  1. Xiangming Fang
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Correspondence to Xiangming Fang.

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Fang, X., Corso, P.S. Gender Differences in the Connections Between Violence Experienced as a Child and Perpetration of Intimate Partner Violence in Young Adulthood. J Fam Viol 23, 303–313 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-008-9152-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-008-9152-0

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