TY - JOUR
T1 - Breaking the Intergenerational Cycle
T2 - Partner Violence, Child–Parent Attachment, and Children’s Aggressive Behaviors
AU - Juan, Shao Chiu
AU - Washington, Heather M.
AU - Kurlychek, Megan C.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank Dr. Colin Loftin, professor in the School of Criminal Justice at the University at Albany, State University of New York, for his review of preliminary drafts of this manuscript. They also thank the Bendheim-Thoman Center for Research on Child Wellbeing in Princeton University and the Columbia Population Research Center in Columbia University for their vigorous efforts in collecting quality data for the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing (FFCW) Study. The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2017.
PY - 2020/3/1
Y1 - 2020/3/1
N2 - The link between exposure to violence in the home and children’s later exhibition of violent behaviors is well documented in the criminological literature. To date, most research on partner violence (PV) and children’s welfare has focused on adolescent outcomes. As such, we know little about how PV affects the behavior of the youngest, and perhaps most vulnerable population of children who have been exposed to PV. Our understanding of the PV–child behavior association is also limited because extant research has focused less attention on identifying risk factors that explain and modify the link between exposure to PV and children’s behavior. We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a five-wave longitudinal study of U.S.-born children (N = 2,896) and structural equation modeling (SEM), to explore the impact of PV exposure on later aggressive behaviors. We extend the literature on PV exposure and childhood aggression in three ways: (a) We focus on young children’s behavioral outcomes; (b) we identify child–parent attachment as a potential moderator of the PV–childhood aggression relationship; and (c) we investigate variation in the effect of PV exposure on children’s aggressive behavior by children’s attachment to parents. Findings support our hypotheses that exposure to PV during first 3 years of life is associated with increased aggression at age 5 and age 9. We find that the effect of PV on aggression at age 9 is fully mediated through the parent–child attachment. Contrary to our expectations, we do not find evidence of a strong parent–child attachment moderating the impact of PV exposure on children’s aggressive behavior.
AB - The link between exposure to violence in the home and children’s later exhibition of violent behaviors is well documented in the criminological literature. To date, most research on partner violence (PV) and children’s welfare has focused on adolescent outcomes. As such, we know little about how PV affects the behavior of the youngest, and perhaps most vulnerable population of children who have been exposed to PV. Our understanding of the PV–child behavior association is also limited because extant research has focused less attention on identifying risk factors that explain and modify the link between exposure to PV and children’s behavior. We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a five-wave longitudinal study of U.S.-born children (N = 2,896) and structural equation modeling (SEM), to explore the impact of PV exposure on later aggressive behaviors. We extend the literature on PV exposure and childhood aggression in three ways: (a) We focus on young children’s behavioral outcomes; (b) we identify child–parent attachment as a potential moderator of the PV–childhood aggression relationship; and (c) we investigate variation in the effect of PV exposure on children’s aggressive behavior by children’s attachment to parents. Findings support our hypotheses that exposure to PV during first 3 years of life is associated with increased aggression at age 5 and age 9. We find that the effect of PV on aggression at age 9 is fully mediated through the parent–child attachment. Contrary to our expectations, we do not find evidence of a strong parent–child attachment moderating the impact of PV exposure on children’s aggressive behavior.
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U2 - 10.1177/0886260517692996
DO - 10.1177/0886260517692996
M3 - Article
C2 - 29294659
AN - SCOPUS:85042600494
VL - 35
SP - 1158
EP - 1181
JO - Journal of Interpersonal Violence
JF - Journal of Interpersonal Violence
SN - 0886-2605
IS - 5-6
ER -