Citation

Davies CA, DiLillo D, Martinez IG. J. Fam. Violence 2004; 19(6): 369-377.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska ? Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska; Department of Psychology, Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, Texas, USA

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10896-004-0682-9

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between childhood exposure to parental violence and adult psychological functioning in a sample of predominantly Mexican American participants. Questionnaires assessing childhood maltreatment, family environment, and current psychological symptomatology were completed by 142 female undergraduates. Findings revealed that witnessing parental violence in childhood was associated with depressive symptoms, low self-esteem, and trauma symptoms in adulthood, even after controlling for child physical and sexual abuse. However, in subsequent analyses, also controlling for levels of nonphysical family conflict, previous associations between exposure to parental violence and adult symptomatology were reduced, such that trauma-related symptoms remained the sole outcome still predicted by a history of witnessing parental violence. Implications of these findings, issues related to the use of statistical control procedures in abuse effects research, and directions for future investigation are discussed.