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Annotation: Implications of Violence between Intimate Partners for Child Psychologists and Psychiatrists

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 1998

Terrie E. Moffitt
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London, U.K. and University of Wisconsin at Madison, U.S.A.
Avshalom Caspi
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London, U.K. and University of Wisconsin at Madison, U.S.A.
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Abstract

Violence between adult intimate partners has increasingly attracted the concern of the general public (Hunt & Kitzinger, 1996), medical professionals (Skolnick, 1995), and mental health practitioners who treat adults (Danielson, Moffitt, Caspi & Silva, in press). Yet, it may seem surprising to find an article about adult partner violence in a journal focused on children. We prepared this article because research suggests that adult partner violence has some important consequences for the health and well-being of children. We present four reasons why practitioners who treat children and adolescents should be knowledgeable about adult partner violence:

(1) Partner violence is not confined to adults; it is a feature of adolescents' earliest intimate experiences.

(2) The strongest developmental risk factor for adult partner violence is childhood conduct problems.

(3) Young children are adversely affected by witnessing violence between the adults in their homes.

(4) Adult partners who are violent toward each other are also at increased risk of abusing their children.

Abbreviations: CTS: Conflict Tactics Scale.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1998 Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry

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