Pathways From Childhood Maltreatment to Intimate Partner Violence in Middle Adulthood: The Impact of Attachment Insecurity and Psychological Distress

• In Event: Consequences of Childhood Maltreatment and Witnessing Arrests on Youth and Adults

Abstract

A large body of research supports an association between childhood maltreatment and intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization and perpetration in adulthood, although longitudinal evidence is sparse. The precise causal pathways from maltreatment to IPV have yet to be determined but could assist with identifying targets to reduce the risk of harmful intimate relationships. We examine whether attachment insecurity and psychological distress mediate or moderate the relationship between maltreatment and physical IPV victimization and perpetration in middle adulthood. As part of a prospective longitudinal study of the long-term consequences of maltreatment, children with court-substantiated abuse and neglect (ages 0-11 years) and demographically matched controls were followed into adulthood and interviewed. Measures of attachment styles and psychological distress (symptoms of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress) were administered in 2000-2002 during the second interview (mean age 39 years; N = 892). Self-reported information about experiences of physical IPV victimization and perpetration was obtained from the fourth interview in 2009-2010 (mean age 47 years; N = 386). A series of models testing mediated and moderated pathways from maltreatment to IPV victimization and perpetration will be conducted, with consideration given to possible gender differences. Implications of these findings for policy and practice will be discussed.

Authors

• Nina Papalia, Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University of Technology

• Cathy Spatz Widom, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY