Citation

Margolin G, Vickerman KA, Ramos MC, Serrano SD, Gordis EB, Iturralde E, Oliver PH, Spies LA. Clin. Child Fam. Psychol. Rev. 2009; 12(1): 39-54.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, SGM 930, Los Angeles, CA, 90089-1061, USA, margolin@usc.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10567-009-0040-9

PMID

19238543

PMCID

PMC2679529

Abstract

With considerable literature establishing how separate types of violence disrupt the lives of children, there is emerging interest in examining violence across multiple interpersonal domains. This article examines four commonly occurring and frequently researched domains of violence exposure: marital physical aggression, mother-to-youth aggression, father-to-youth aggression, and community violence. A community-based sample of 103 parents and youth provided three waves of data at annual intervals beginning when the youth were aged 9-10. We explored stability of exposure, co-occurrence across different types of violence exposure, and associations with co-occurring risk factors. Approximately 30-45% of youth reported intermittent exposure over the 3 years. In addition to overlap among types of violence exposure within the family, we found overlap between parent-to-youth aggression and community violence, an association that was exacerbated in families where fathers reported high levels of global distress symptoms. Mother-to-youth, father-to-youth, and community violence related to youth behavior problems beyond the contextual risk factors of low income, stressful life events, and parents' global distress symptoms. These results highlight the importance of examining violence longitudinally, across multiple types, and with attention to contextual factors.

Language: en