Do Trauma Symptoms Mediate the Relationship Between Childhood Physical Abuse and Adult Child Abuse Risk?

• NCJ Number: 231058
• Journal: Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 34 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2010 Pages: 332-344
• Author(s): Joel S. Milner; Cynthia J. Thomsen; Julie L. Crouch; Mandy M. Rabenhorst; Patricia M. Martens; Christopher W. Dyslin; Jennifer M. Guimond; Valerie A. Stander; Lex L. Merrill
• Date Published: May 2010
• Length: 13 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined whether trauma symptoms mediate the relationship between childhood experience of childhood physical abuse and adult childhood physical abuse risk.

Abstract

Study findings indicate that trauma symptoms associated with a history of childhood physical abuse (CPA) accounted for a substantial part of the relationship between a history of CPA and adult CPA risk in both women and men. To the extent that trauma symptoms area a mechanism by which the intergenerational transmission of child abuse occurs, intervening to reduce trauma symptoms in CPA victims has the potential of reducing their risk of continuing the cycle of violence. Children who are physically abused by their parents are at risk of numerous short- and long-term consequences. Children who experience physical abuse, compared to non-abused children, also are at increased risk of perpetrating violent behaviors. This study examined whether trauma symptoms mediate the relationship between a childhood history of CPA and adult CPA risk, and whether any such mediation was similar for women and men. Study participants included female and male United States Navy (USN) recruits and college students who completed self-report measures of their history of child abuse, exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV), current trauma symptoms, and adult CPA risk. Tables and references