NCJ Number
213903
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 21 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2006 Pages: 199-212
Date Published
April 2006
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study explored cognitive and emotional factors that might contribute to the child-abuse potential of domestic violence victims.
Abstract
The findings suggest that service providers assisting domestic violence survivors should be attuned to their emotional functioning and make appropriate mental health referrals. Results also indicated that the strongest predictors of child abuse potential were depression and anxiety, followed by emotional difficulties and insecure attachment styles. Additionally, women residing in shelters had a greater risk of child abuse than their counterparts in transitional housing programs, perhaps indicating that greater temporal proximity to spousal abuse might contribute to increased child abuse potential. Participants were 80 female victims of domestic violence who were recruited from crisis shelters and from transitional housing programs. Participants completed a series of computer administered questionnaires assessing child abuse potential, spousal abuse history, domestic violence behaviors, attachment style, depression, hopelessness, anxiety, and anger expression behaviors. Data analysis techniques included the calculations of correlations and hierarchical multiple regression models. Future research could expand on this study by making comparisons of the emotional and cognitive functioning of women in various stages of leaving an abusive relationship. Tables, references