Predictors of parental physical abuse: The contribution of internalizing and externalizing disorders and childhood experiences of abuse

Childhood experiences of physical and sexual abuse unfortunately occur all too often in our society. The negative effects of child abuse have been well documented. However, what causes a parent to abuse a child has been less well studied empirically and is the focus of the current paper. Specifically, we examine the contribution of the participant’s lifetime psychopathology and the participant’s own childhood experiences of abuse (physical or sexual) to his or her physically abusive behaviors (e.g., hitting, spanking, kicking, punching, burning, etc.) towards children in his or her care. Depending on definitions of sexual and physical abuse, epidemiological studies have shown that rates of childhood sexual abuse range from approximately 12.8% to 16.8% for females and 4.3% to 7.9% for males (Loranger et al., 1994; Putnam, 2003). Rates of childhood physical abuse are approximately 21.1% for females and 31.2% for males (MacMillan et al., 1997). According to a US government data source (USDHHS, 2005), 79.4% of childhood victims were abused by their parents. There are many lifelong problems that have been linked with childhood sexual and physical abuse. Such negative outcomes include psychological disorders, health problems, problems with the law, and problems in tasks of every day living (e.g., problems associated with employment, marriage and parenting). Researchers examining the negative outcomes associated with sexual abuse and physical abuse have found more similarities than differences (Mullen et al., 1996). Nonetheless, some studies have found unique affects associated with specific types of abuse. In particular, emotional abuse was found to be associated with self-criticism (Sachs-Ericsson et al., 2006), physical abuse with aggressive behavior (Briere & Runtz, 1990) and sexual abuse with sexual problems (Mullen et al., 1996). Several characteristics have been found to be associated with a parent engaging in abusive behaviors towards his or her child. Most prominent is the individual’s psychopathology and the individual’s own past experiences of childhood abuse. Social learning theory would suggest that through the experience of childhood abuse, aggressive and abusive behaviors are modeled, and the child learns that such behaviors are appropriate in parenting (Bandura, 1978). The individual’s own psychopathology may interfere with parenting behaviors. Parents who abuse their children have higher rates of psychiatric disorders in both the internalizing and externalizing domains (Famularo et al., 1992; Kim-Cohen et al., 2006). Indeed, researchers have suggested that early experiences of abuse may be one mechanism which underlies the development of externalizing (Verona & Sachs-Ericsson, 2005) as well as internalizing disorders (Sachs-Ericsson et al., 2006). In turn, externalizing and internalizing disorders have been linked with the abuse of children (Donohue et al., 2006; Kim-Cohen et al., 2006). Thus, it may be the case that a participant’s own psychopathology and experiences of abuse independently contribute to abusive parenting behavior. It is also possible that childhood experiences of abuse increase the risk of the development of psychopathology, and the individual’s psychopathology, in turn, contributes to developing abusive parenting behavior. Whereas childhood abuse has been found to negatively influence both men and women, some studies have suggested that there may be gender differences, with women having more negative effects from abuse than do men (Verona & Sachs-Ericsson, 2005). Therefore, it is possible that gender may moderate the association between childhood abuse and externalizing behaviors--behaviors which in turn may increase risk for parental abuse. The unique aim of this study is to examine simultaneously the independent influence of childhood experiences of abuse and the participant’s psychopathology in relation to parental abusive behavior. A second aim is the examination of the mediating role of the participant’s psychopathology in the association between childhood abuse and subsequent parental abusive behaviors. We examine these associations while controlling for an array of family-of-origin and demographic characteristics also know to influence parental abusive behaviors. The current study tested two models. First, we tested a model in which psychopathology and a history of abuse both directly influence the development of abusive behaviors. Secondly, we tested a model in which the association between a history of childhood abuse and subsequent parental abuse is mediated by the individual’s psychopathology. Based on past research, we predicted that the participant’s internalizing disorders, externalizing disorders, and experiences of childhood abuse would independently contribute to subsequent parental abusive behaviors. Secondly, we expected gender to moderate the relationship between childhood abuse and parental abuse such that the influence of childhood abuse will be greater for women than men. The present study adds to the existing literature in several ways. First, it is based on a large, national representative population. Few empirical studies have investigated parental characteristics that may be risk factors for abusing children. In particular, few studies have examined jointly the influence of past experiences of abuse and psychopathology in the prediction of parental abusive behaviors. Second, many of the studies reviewed above were drawn from clinical samples, comprised of individuals seeking treatment for psychiatric and/or medical problems. Individuals who have experienced abuse are overrepresented in populations seeking such treatment (Raphael et al., 2004), and thus such research may overestimate the relationship between early experiences of abuse and subsequent negative outcomes. Additionally, many studies on effects of childhood abuse are based on known abused populations. Studies based on known abused populations are overrepresented with women, people of color, and those in lower socio-economic classes (Kelleher et al., 1994). Therefore, findings may not generalize to the population as a whole. Thus, epidemiological samples may better inform us as to the nature of the relationship between participants’ characteristics (e.g., psychiatric disorders and history of abuse) and subsequent abuse of children. In sum, this investigation significantly improves on previous investigations because it simultaneously examines the key known risk factors for parental abuse (e.g., the participant’s own experiences of childhood abuse and the participant’s psychopathology). Additionally, this study has sophisticated sampling methods, is representative of the national general population and uses well-validated measures of childhood abuse and psychiatric disorders.