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The Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Mothers’ Parenting Practices for Urban, Low-Income Adolescents

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Abstract

This study examined whether depression and social support mediated the relationship between intimate partner violence (IPV) and parenting practices. Participants were 1,057 female primary caregiver-young adolescent pairs. (Sample included greater than 90 % biological mothers; hereafter, female primary caregivers are referred to as mother.) Findings indicated that IPV was associated positively with mothers’ use of physical punishment and negatively with mothers’ involvement in their children’s education. Although depression and social support were not found to mediate the relationship between IPV and parenting practices, study findings suggest that IPV directly and negatively impacted mothers’ parenting practices. In sum, findings point to the important role that IPV may play in explaining parenting practices for mothers living in high-risk urban environments.

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Acknowledgments

Support for this study comes from a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Heath Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) National Research Service Award (T32HP10004).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ruth H. Young Center for Families and Children, School of Social Work, University of Maryland Baltimore, 525 West Redwood Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA

    Kantahyanee W. Murray

  2. School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Megan H. Bair-Merritt & Tina L. Cheng

  3. Department of Sociology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Kathleen Roche

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  1. Kantahyanee W. Murray
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  2. Megan H. Bair-Merritt
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  3. Kathleen Roche
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  4. Tina L. Cheng
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Correspondence to Kantahyanee W. Murray.

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Murray, K.W., Bair-Merritt, M.H., Roche, K. et al. The Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Mothers’ Parenting Practices for Urban, Low-Income Adolescents. J Fam Viol 27, 573–583 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-012-9449-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-012-9449-x

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