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Abstract
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VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The purpose of this study by Hershorn and Rosenbaum was to measure the behavioral and emotional impact of marital violence on male children of mothers who were maritally abused, in nonviolently discordant marriages, or satisfactorily married.
METHODOLOGY:
The authors followed a quasi-experimental design. The 15 subjects within the first group were abused mothers of male children (average age 8.46 years) who had been referred for marital therapy to mental health clinics in New York State. The second group of subjects consisted of 12 mothers of male children (average age 9.18 years) who were in nonviolent yet discordant marriages and who were referred for marital counseling to mental health clinics. The third group consisted of 18 married mothers who had sons with an average age of 9.58 years and who had never experienced marital violence. No between group differences existed in terms of socioeconomic status or age of male children. The Conduct Problem and Personality Problem (CPPP) subscales of the Behavior Problem Checklist were utilized to assess, from the mother's report, the child's behavioral problems. These subscales were found to have high validity and reliability over many studies. The Short Marital Adjustment Test, the O'Leary Porter Scale of overt marital hostility, and the Porter Parental Behavior and Feelings Inventory for assessing child-rearing practices were also utilized. Each subject answered the questions in these scales in anonymous written form. Subjects who were not in therapy at the clinics received a $15 stipend for participation. Means, standard deviations and analyses of variance were all utilized to statistically interpret the data.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
An analysis of variance indicated that significant between-group differences existed on the Conduct Problem and the Personality Problem (CPPP) subscales, with the group of abused mothers and the group of mothers in discordant, yet nonviolent marriages both differing significantly from the satisfactorily married mothers (p<.001). To test if there was an interactive effect between exposure to marital conflict, child rearing style and behavioral problems, the scores from the CPPP were divided into four categories of: high exposure to marital conflict and severe child rearing and high exposure to marital conflict and rewarding child rearing; low exposure to marital violence and severe child rearing; low exposure to marital conflict and rewarding child rearing. Using a 2 X 2 factorial analysis of variance, it was found that degree of exposure to marital conflict and child rearing styles were both significantly related to the male children's conduct problems (p<.01 & p<.05, respectively). However, only the degree of exposure to marital violence was related to personality problems in the children (p<.05). It was also found that abused mothers were no more likely to utilize severe child rearing technique than the other two groups of mothers. In other words, the commonly held notion that abused mothers often, in turn, abuse their children was not supported. This study concluded that an association does exists between marital violence and behavioral problems in children who witness that violence.
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
The authors suggested the need to reveal more thoroughly the connection between marital violence and behavioral problems in children and suggested the need to make parents more aware of the often indirect victimization caused to their children by their violence. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - New York
KW - Male Witness
KW - Male Behavior
KW - Child Behavior
KW - Child Problem Behavior
KW - Child Male
KW - Child Witness
KW - Behavior Causes
KW - Domestic Violence Effects
KW - Domestic Violence Victim
KW - Family Environment
KW - Witnessing Violence Effects
KW - Witnessing Spouse Abuse
KW - Spouse Abuse Effects
KW - Children of Battered Women
KW - Psychological Victimization Effects
KW - Violence Against Women
KW - Partner Violence
KW - Witness Adjustment
KW - Emotional Adjustment
KW - Emotional Development
KW - Child Development
KW - Youth Development
KW - Interparental Violence
KW - Violence Against Women
KW - Partner Violence |