NCJ Number
179063
Journal
Child Abuse Review Volume: 8 Issue: 4 Dated: July-August 1999 Pages: 231-250
Editor(s)
Kevin D. Browne,
Margaret A. Lynch
Date Published
1999
Length
20 pages
Annotation
To examine the intergenerational transmission of abuse, this study compared 25 mothers whose child had been under the supervision of child protection services (CPS) with 25 mothers who had no contact with the CPS.
Abstract
The groups of mothers were compared with respect to their own self-reported childhood abuse, their abuse of their own child, and their punitive behavior. Data were obtained through interviews and files. Findings show no significant differences between the groups in self-reported childhood physical abuse, but the CPS mothers had experienced more childhood psychological abuse, especially rejection, accusations, terrorizing, and corrupting. The groups did not differ in the self-reported physical or psychological abuse perpetrated on their own children. In the total sample of 50 mothers, hierarchical regression analyses showed, however, that the mothers' childhood abuse experiences predicted their abuse of their own child. Punitiveness was best predicted by maternal childhood psychological abuse. The results thus provide evidence for the cycle-of-abuse model. 2 tables, 58 references, and appended research assessment instrument