NCJ Number
237882
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 25 Issue: 9 Dated: September 2010 Pages: 1699-1715
Date Published
September 2010
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study examined the association between different forms of childhood victimization, domestic violence, and posttraumatic stress.
Abstract
Interviews of women with (n = 193) and without (n = 170) recent exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) were used to examine how IPV and past exposure to child abuse influence self-reports of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. The measurement of IPV included assessing psychological, physical, escalated physical, and sexual abuse. Women's retrospective accounts of childhood victimization included reports of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and witnessing domestic violence growing up. Each form of adult IPV showed an independent association with PTSD symptoms, as did each form of childhood victimization. In regression models including child and adult abuse together, adult IPV and childhood sexual abuse were related to PTSD symptoms, and adult IPV mediated the association between childhood physical abuse and adult PTSD. Tests of the interactions between childhood and adulthood victimization on PTSD symptoms were not significant. Findings are discussed within the context of a life-course perspective of trauma. (Published Abstract)