Child Maltreatment Victimization and Young Adult Intimate Partner Violence: An Exploration of Mediating Factors

This study examined whether young adults with documented histories of child maltreatment had higher records of documented intimate partner violence perpetration than a matched control group. It also examined whether this association was mediated by violent delinquency, substance use, and mental health problems in adolescence. Data for this study came from one state's administrative public sector records of child welfare, juvenile court, mental health, income maintenance, birth records, and U.S. Census tract information. The study employed a prospective longitudinal design to follow children for 16-27 years (N=5,377). Multiple group path analysis was used to examine mediation hypotheses and compare pathways for females and males. The maltreated subjects had significantly more documented records of interpersonal violence. Mediational analyses revealed substantial differences by gender. For females, neither direct nor indirect effects of child maltreatment on violence perpetration were significant using bootstrapped approach. However, mental health problems in adolescence mediated the relationship between childhood victimization and violence perpetration. For males, maltreatment had both direct and mediated effects through violent delinquency. The study results suggest gender differences in the etiology of serious IPV and highlight the importance of child maltreatment prevention as a way to reduce violence later in life.