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Intergenerational Continuity in Maltreatment

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Abstract

Identification of the causes of child maltreatment perpetration is prerequisite for developing efficacious prevention initiatives to reduce its occurrence. Earlier maltreatment victimization is often suggested as an important cause of subsequent maltreatment perpetration. This study investigates a) whether maltreatment victimization causes subsequent perpetration and b) whether the timing of maltreatment victimization—childhood versus adolescence—alters this relationship. We use data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, a longitudinal study begun in Rochester, New York in 1988, based on a stratified random sample of 1000 seventh and eighth graders. At the most recent followup, 80 % were reinterviewed. Child Protective Services data were collected on substantiated incidents of maltreatment victimization from birth to age 17 and on maltreatment perpetration through average age 33, n = 816. Using propensity score models to control selection effects, we find that a history of maltreatment victimization significantly increases the odds of becoming a perpetrator of maltreatment. Although childhood-limited maltreatment does not significantly increase the odds of maltreatment perpetration, maltreatment that occurs in adolescence or that begins in childhood and persists into adolescence does. Adolescent maltreatment was found to be more serious in terms of type, chronicity, and severity than childhood-limited maltreatment, offering a possible explanation for this finding. Therefore, maltreatment victimization, especially during adolescence, is a likely cause of subsequent perpetration. Clinical services to interrupt the cycle of maltreatment are needed to protect subsequent generations from experiencing maltreatment and from experiencing the health-risking behaviors that often flow from maltreatment.

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Notes

  1. These descriptions are unfortunately not available in the statewide records used to measure perpetration.

  2. The small number of maltreatment perpetration incidents that occur before age 18 (< 2 %) involve teen parents.

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Acknowledgments

Support for this project has been provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (R01CE001572) and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2006-JW-BX-0074). Support for data collection and data analysis for the Rochester Youth Development Study has been provided by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (86-JN-CX-0007, 96-MU-FX-0014, 2004-MU-FX-0062), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01 DA020195, R01 DA005512, R01 DA020344), the National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH63386, R01 MH56486), and the National Science Foundation (SBR-9123299). Work on this project was also aided by grants to the Center for Social and Demographic Analysis at the University at Albany from NICHD (P30-HD32041) and NSF (SBR-9512290) for computing resources. We would like to thank the New York State Office of Children and Family Services for their assistance in collecting the Child Protective Services data.

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  1. Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Maryland, 2220 LeFrak Hall, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Terence P. Thornberry

  2. Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, 220 Behavioral Sciences Building, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1876, USA

    Kimberly L. Henry

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Thornberry, T.P., Henry, K.L. Intergenerational Continuity in Maltreatment. J Abnorm Child Psychol 41, 555–569 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-012-9697-5

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