The Long-Term Effects of Child Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence on Adult Socioeconomic Adjustment

• In Event: Childhood Risk Factors and Life-Course Outcomes

Abstract

There is a growing literature that documents the effects of child abuse, adolescent intimate partner violence (IPV), and young adult IPV on adult socioeconomic outcomes such as educational attainment, job stability, welfare participation, and income. Largely, this literature focuses on short term consequences of violence such as the contemporaneous effects of a violent partner interfering with job and school. We aim to extend this literature more generally by examining why exposure to these types of violence have long-term effects. Drawing on the life course literature, these experiences with violence may act as turning points in the life course that impact conceptions of self, emotional well-being, and self-efficacy which in turn lower adult socioeconomic stability and success. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we examine if depressive symptoms, self-esteem, and lack of future planning mediate the impact of child abuse, adolescent IPV, and early adulthood IPV on several measures of adult socioeconomic adjustment (financial problems, job instability, and educational attainment). We find some evidence of mediation for all three outcomes, though child abuse and IPV continue to exert independent effects. We discuss implications of these analyses for experiences with different types of violence in the life course.

Authors

• Joanne M Kaufman, University at Albany, SUNY

• Christine M Walsh, University at Albany, SUNY