Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2009, 6 3160 2.2. IPV, Parental Alcohol Abuse, and the Development of Maladaptive Behavior in Children: Theoretical Perspectives Alcoholism and IPV often occur together; however the relationship between the two issues is complex and not well understood [54]. As a result, a number of theories have been proposed to explain how parental alcohol abuse may create risk for custodial children in their homes. For example, Social learning [55,56] and theories of Social development [57,58] stress the importance of socialization and healthy relationships with parents and others to model prosocial beliefs and behaviors, and to provide interactions that illustrate appropriate rewards and consequences. Developmental ecological approaches have been used to conceptualize risk for antisocial behavior [59]. According to family- couple theories, interparental conflict is the primary mediating pathway leading to child adjustment problems. Finally, Spillover theories contend that interparental conflict is linked to family processes and parenting [60-62]. Given the heterogeneity in the family environments, neighborhoods, and temperament of COAs, many theories may help explain youth development. It is important to note that these diverse conceptualizations of mechanisms of action underlying child risk are not mutually exclusive; simply stated, each of these theories includes elements of one or more of the others in its overall model of the manner in which children’s emotional and behavioral problems evolve. However, differences exist in the way each paradigm explains the various destructive factors that may operate to influence negative child outcomes. For example, while there is much agreement that parental alcoholism and intimate partner violence are serious destructive influences in children’s development across the various theories, the role of each is different depending on the manner in which each of these behaviors are conceptualized. 2.3. Social Learning and Social Development Theories According to social learning theory, problematic drinking and violent behavior are learned primarily through social interactions, which are passed down from one generation to the next. In particular, exposure to violence between parents may teach children that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution [63]. Thus, an individual may have acquired (learned) poor coping strategies (i.e., drinking and violence) through modeling dysfunctional behavior exhibited in the family of origin. Social learning theories may be helpful in explaining patterns of intergenerational violence. 2.4. Developmental Ecological Approaches A developmental ecological framework would argue that the contexts created by parental alcohol use may expose COAs to greater developmental risk. For instance, both legal problems [64,65] and unemployment [65,66] are related to adult alcohol abuse. Moreover, alcohol abuse may jeopardize marital relationships [67] and increase negative affect [68]. It is now widely accepted that the occurrence of violence between intimate partners is the culmination of multiple interacting contextual, social, biological, psychological, and personality factors that exert their influence at different times, under different circumstances, acting in a probabilistic fashion [69]. Consequently, ecological models examine these factors on multiple levels.