NCJ Number
232722
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 34 Issue: 10 Dated: October 2010 Pages: 724-733
Date Published
October 2010
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Given the mixed findings from research on the long-term effects of childhood physical abuse (CPA) on adverse adult psychosocial outcomes, this study compares several models for predicting adult outcomes for women who experience CPA: a multidimensional CPA severity scale, the presence or absence of CPA, family environment, and childhood stresses.
Abstract
The study concludes that the specific characteristics of a CPA experience may be less important for predicting long-term psychosocial outcomes than the occurrence of CPA and the woman's childhood family environment. A comparison of a multidimensional CPA severity scale to a dichotomous measure of the presence or absence of CPA showed that the severity scale did not have greater predictive value for adult outcomes than the dichotomous measure. Childhood family environment scales considerably weakened the predictive value of the dichotomous measures of CPA, exerting a greater mediating effect on outcomes than did childhood stresses. The findings lend support to the view that family stresses and resources other than CPA may be critical in understanding the long-term effects of CPA experienced by women; thus, treatment and support for victims of CPA might benefit from clinicians' exploration of the family environment. For this study, the effect of CPA on adult psychosocial outcomes was examined among 290 community dwelling women raised in 2-parent families. Standardized measures and a focused interview were used to collect data, with siblings as collateral informants. 2 tables and 57 references