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2012 17: 172 originally published online 27 January 2012Child MaltreatKristin Valentino, Amy K. Nuttall, Michelle Comas, John G. Borkowski and Carol E. Akai

Community Violence, and RaceIntergenerational Continuity of Child Abuse Among Adolescent Mothers : Authoritarian Parenting,

  

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Intergenerational Continuity of ChildAbuse Among Adolescent Mothers:Authoritarian Parenting, CommunityViolence, and Race

Kristin Valentino1, Amy K. Nuttall1, Michelle Comas1,John G. Borkowski1 and Carol E. Akai2

AbstractAmong the negative sequelae of child maltreatment is increased risk for continuity of maltreatment into subsequent generations.Despite acknowledgment in the literature that the pathways toward breaking the cycle of maltreatment are likely the result ofdynamic interactions of risk and protective factors across multiple ecological levels, few studies have followed high-risk samplesof maltreated and nonmaltreated parents over time to evaluate such processes. In the current investigation, exposure tocommunity violence and authoritarian parenting attitudes were evaluated as predictors of the intergenerational continuity ofabuse, and the moderating effect of African American race was examined. The sample included 70 mothers and their 18-year-old children, who have been followed longitudinally since the third trimester of the adolescent mothers’ pregnancy. Resultsrevealed that among mothers with a child abuse history, higher exposure to community violence and lower authoritarian parent-ing attitudes were associated with increased risk for intergenerational continuity of abuse. The relation of authoritarian parentingattitudes to intergenerational continuity was moderated by race; the protective effects of authoritarian parenting were limited tothe African American families only. The salience of multiple ecological levels in interrupting the intergenerational continuity ofchild abuse is discussed, and implications for preventive programs are highlighted.

Keywordschild abuse, maltreatment, parenting, community violence, ecological models, teen parenting

Among the negative sequelae of child maltreatment is the

increased risk of transmitting maltreatment to the next genera-

tion (Dixon, Browne, & Hamilton-Giachritsis, 2005; Egeland,

Jacobvitz, & Sroufe, 1988; Kaufman & Zigler, 1987). A large

body of literature suggests that victims of childhood

maltreatment are more likely to maltreat their own children than

are parents without a maltreatment history. Despite acknowledg-

ment in the literature that the pathways toward interrupting the

continuity of maltreatment are likely the result of dynamic inter-

actions of risk and protective factors across multiple ecological

levels (Cicchetti & Lynch, 1993; Cicchetti & Valentino, 2006),

few studies have followed high-risk samples of maltreated and

nonmaltreated parents over time to evaluate such processes.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the

intergenerational continuity of maltreatment among a sample of

adolescent mothers who were tracked longitudinally from their

pregnancies until their children were 18 years of age. Of the

adolescent mothers with a maltreatment history, we sought to

identify protective factors at multiple ecological levels that would

differentiate families who broke the cycle of maltreatment from

those whose children became maltreated by age 18. The current

investigation focused on exposure to violence at the exosystem

level and parenting styles at the microsystem level as predictors

and examined how different racial contexts (African American

vs. Caucasian American) moderated the effects of these potential

protective factors. Informed by research that demonstrates how

the negative sequelae of authoritarian and/or no-nonsense

parenting styles may be limited to Caucasian American families

(e.g., Deater-Deckard, Bates, Dodge, & Pettit, 1996; Lansford,

Deater-Deckard, Dodge, Bates, & Pettit, 2004), we addressed

whether authoritarian parenting among African American

families may mitigate against the intergenerational continuity

of child abuse.

1 Department of Psychology, Center for Children & Families, University of

Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA2 Department of Psychology, Connecticut College, New London, CT, USA

Corresponding Author:

Kristin Valentino, University of Notre Dame, 128 Haggar Hall, Notre Dame, IN

46556, USA

Email: kristin.valentino@nd.edu

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Child Maltreatment

Child maltreatment is a serious threat to public health. In 2009,

more than 3.6 million children were subject to child protective

services investigations. Approximately 25% of those cases

were substantiated, leading to a child victimization rate of 10

per 1,000 children in the U.S. population. Approximately

80% of these children were maltreated by a parent, which

underscores the pivotal role parents play in risk for child abuse

and neglect (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,

Administration on Children, Youth and Families [U.S. DHHS],

2010).

Child maltreatment confers significant risk for children in

multiple developmental domains (Cicchetti & Valentino,

2006). Estimates indicate that up to 50% of children investi-

gated by CPS (not just cases that were substantiated) exhibit

clinical levels of mental health symptoms (Burns et al.,

2004), and 36–45% of these children display significant

behavior problems. Moreover, children involved with the child

welfare system are up to three times more likely to have low

levels of academic achievement than children who are not

involved with the welfare system (U.S. DHHS, 2010). Clearly,

child maltreatment is a significant threat to healthy child

development.

The maladaptive consequences of child maltreatment persist

throughout the lifespan. For example, research on the associa-

tions between patient reports of adverse childhood experiences

(i.e., child maltreatment) and adult mental and physical health

has attributed 50–78% of adult depression, suicide attempts,

and drug or alcohol use to adverse childhood experiences

including child abuse and neglect (Anda et al., 2006). As such,

there is a need for preventive interventions for maltreatment

that are theoretically and empirically driven by research on risk

and protective factors. These services may be especially impor-

tant for vulnerable populations such as teenage mothers living

in violent neighborhoods.

The Intergenerational Continuity of Abuse

The occurrence of child maltreatment is multiply determined

by risk and protective factors transacting at multiple levels of

analysis (Cicchetti & Lynch, 1993; Cicchetti & Valentino,

2006). Theoretical (Belsky, 1993; Egeland, Bosquet, & Chung,

2002) and empirical work (Dixon et al., 2005; Kaufman & Zig-

ler, 1987; Pears & Capaldi, 2001) has indicated that parental

history of maltreatment is one of the most salient risk factors

for subsequent child maltreatment. Documented rates of inter-

generational continuity vary widely, however, and research

demonstrates that despite elevated risk for maltreatment among

children of parents who were childhood victims of abuse, the

majority of parents with abuse histories do not perpetuate abuse

in the next generation (Browne & Herbert, 1997; Dixon,

Hamilton-Giachritsis, & Browne, 2005; Pears & Capaldi,

2001). For example, in one prospective study that followed

infants from birth to age 5, 7.4% of parents with an abuse

history maltreated their own children (Browne & Herbert,

1997). Another prospective study reported the proportion of

parents with a history of maltreatment whose children were

subsequently referred to authorities for abuse and/or neglect

as 6.7% by the time children were 13 months of age versus

0.4% of parents without a history of maltreatment (Dixon

et al., 2005). In contrast, a prospective study of high-risk

families with boys reported that, by age 21, 23% of the sons

of physically abused parents reported that their parent/parents

had abused them versus 10% of the sons of parents without a

history of abuse (Pears & Capaldi, 2001).

Of note is the distinction between intergenerational continu-

ity of abuse and the intergenerational transmission of abuse;

continuity refers to situations where abused parents have an

abused child in the household without distinguishing whether

the perpetrator is the parent or not, whereas transmission refers

to a subset of these families in which parents who were victims

of childhood abuse can be identified as subsequent perpetrators

of abuse toward their own children (Berlin, Appleyard, &

Dodge, 2011). The focus of this investigation is intergenera-

tional continuity of childhood abuse. Among this high-risk

group of individuals with childhood abuse histories, it is impor-

tant to identify mechanisms that confer protection from mal-

treatment continuity. Such research will be invaluable in

developing preventive interventions for this especially vulner-

able group of parents and their children.

Exposure to Community Violence

Exposure to community violence is an element of the

exosystem that adversely affects family functioning and stress

(Overstreet & Braun, 2000), and the experience of community

violence has been specifically associated with child maltreat-

ment (Cicchetti & Lynch, 1993; Coulton, Crampton, Irwin,

Spilsbury, & Korbin, 2007; Lynch & Cicchetti, 1998; Martinez

& Richters, 1993; Richters & Martinez, 1993). For example,

Lynch and Cicchetti (1998) examined the mutual relationships

among community violence, child maltreatment, and children’s

functioning over a 1-year period. Rates of child maltreatment,

particularly physical abuse, were positively related to levels of

child-reported violence in the community. Additional research

suggests that in communities exposed to high levels of vio-

lence, parents often do not utilize available preventive services

or interventions, and social isolation is commonly associated

with maltreatment (Garbarino, 1977; Hunter & Kilstrom,

1979). Despite the association between community violence

exposure and child abuse, research on the intergenerational

continuity of child abuse has not yet considered the role of

community violence in this process.

Parenting Styles

Since Baumrind’s (1972) identification of distinct parenting

styles, research has documented the benefits of an authoritative

parenting style as well as the risks associated with an authori-

tarian style in relation to child development (Baumrind, 1972,

1978; Gershoff, 2002). Authoritarian parenting is characterized

Valentino et al. 173

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by demandingness, high expectations for conformity and

compliance with parental authority, and is often associated

with families that use physical punishment. Harsh physical

punishment is associated with significant maladaptive outcomes

including aggression, violence, and delinquency in children (see

Gershoff, 2002, for review). Because the distinction between

physical punishment and physical abuse is not clear, the use of

physical punishment has been identified as an obvious predictor

of child abuse; less attention has been paid, however, to the role

of authoritarian parenting attitudes in relation to risk for child

abuse or intergenerational continuity of abuse.

Consistent with an ecological-transactional perspective,

variables operating at all ecological levels may influence each

other in relation to child developmental outcomes (Cicchetti &

Lynch, 1995; Cicchetti & Valentino, 2006). For example,

cultural, racial or ethnic group membership has been conceptua-

lized as macrosystem-level factor that significantly influences

social practices and relationships observed within microsys-

tems, mesosystems, and exosystems (Cicchetti & Valentino,

2006; Spencer et al., 2006). With regard to parenting, an emer-

ging literature suggests that the practice of authoritarian parent-

ing, and its association with child outcomes, varies by racial

context. For example, African American parents adopt authori-

tarian and restrictive parenting styles more frequently than do

Caucasian American parents (Furstenberg, Brooks-Gunn, &

Chase-Lansdale, 1989). Although the use of authoritarian pun-

ishment styles may suggest risk for maltreatment among Cauca-

sian American families, researchers have found that the

adoption and exercise of authoritarian parenting styles in Afri-

can American families were not associated with the adverse

behavioral outcomes commonly linked with authoritarian par-

enting in Caucasian American families, such as hostility and

resistance (Baumrind, 1972; Taylor & Roberts, 1995) or exter-

nalizing behavior problems (Deater-Deckard et al., 1996). In

contrast, evidence has accumulated that authoritarian parenting

may act protectively among African American families (Gun-

noe & Mariner, 1997; Lansford et al., 2004), leading to less

aggressive behavior and more positive developmental outcomes

among African American children.

Research has yet to explore how authoritarian parenting

may be related to the intergenerational continuity of child

abuse, and whether this relation is moderated by race. Given

that authoritarian parenting has been associated with decreased

aggressive behavior and more positive developmental out-

comes among African American children, an authoritarian

parenting style may similarly be associated with positive par-

enting behavior. For example, an authoritarian parenting style

may increase parental monitoring, which has been associated

with positive child developmental outcomes among African

American families (e.g., Pittman & Chase-Lansdale, 2001) and

may be relevant to the prevention of the intergenerational

continuity of child abuse among African American families. For

low-income African American parents, among whom there are

heightened perceptions of danger, distress, and concern for their

children’s futures (McLoyd, 1990; Pinderhughes, Dodge, Bates,

Pettit, & Zelli, 2000), the protective nature of authoritarian

parenting may be especially true. Heightened awareness to

potential dangers may motivate stronger authoritarian attitudes

and beliefs about parental control and subsequently facilitate

greater protection against childhood abuse.

Present Study

The present study examined the intergenerational continuity of

child abuse in a sample of adolescent mothers and their

children whose development has been tracked over 18 years

(Borkowski et al., 2007; Whitman, Borkowski, Keogh, &

Weed, 2001). The current project analyzed data among mothers

who reported abuse prior to 18 years of age and their adolescent

children at age 18. Predictor variables included exposure to

community violence, parenting style attitudes and race. The

investigation had the following major hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1: Mothers with a history of childhood abuse

(physical, sexual, and/or emotional) would be more

likely to have children who reported experiences of

childhood abuse than mothers without a history of abuse.

Hypothesis 2: Among mothers with a history of childhood

abuse, exposure to community violence and authoritarian

attitudes about harsh parenting would predict interge-

nerational continuity of childhood abuse.

Hypothesis 3: The effect of authoritarian parenting on child-

hood abuse would be moderated by race, such that higher

authoritarian parenting among African American fami-

lies would operate as a protective factor, rather than con-

ferring risk compared to Caucasian American families.

Method

Participants

Participants in this study included a subsample of mother–child

dyads (N¼ 70) drawn from the Notre Dame Adolescent Parent-

ing Project, a longitudinal study following, first-time adoles-

cent mothers and their children from the last trimester of

pregnancy through children’s adolescence (Borkowski et al.,

2007; Sommer et al., 1993; Whitman et al., 2001). Teenage

mothers were recruited from school-age mothers programs,

hospital clinics, and social service agencies in South Bend,

IN or Aiken, SC. For the present study, 70 dyads with complete

data on both mothers’ and children’s abuse history measured by

the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ; Bernstein & Fink,

1998) were included in the analyses; this represents 40% of the

original sample participants.

Mothers in the study were between 14.5 and 19.5 years

old (M ¼ 17.35, SD ¼ 1.05) at the time of their child’s birth;

firstborns were included as target children in the sample.

Prenatally, the average maternal IQ was 88.7 (SD ¼ 11.6).

Approximately 57% of the sample was comprised of African

American participants, with 36% non-Hispanic Caucasian

American participants and 7% Hispanic American participants.

All participants were English-speaking. Most mothers were in

low socioeconomic status categories with a mean Hollingshead

174 Child Maltreatment 17(2)

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Index of Social Position of 69.86 points (SD ¼ 1.66). At birth,

child participants had typical weights of more than 5.5 lbs

(95.8%) and typical Apgar scores at 5 min (M ¼ 8.9, SD ¼.74); 57% of children were male. The current subsample did not

significantly differ from the adolescent mothers in the full sam-

ple on any of the aforementioned demographic characteristics.

Design and Procedures

Adolescent mothers were assessed in the laboratory or their

homes during the third trimester of their first pregnancy. Prena-

tally, mothers completed questionnaires and provided permis-

sion to access birth-related medical records. Informed

consent was obtained from all participants; if adolescent moth-

ers were under age 18, their guardians provided informed con-

sent and mothers provided assent. Families participated in

several research visits beginning prenatally and ending when

children were age 18 (Borkowski et al., 2007). Prenatally, we

evaluated maternal authoritarian parenting attitudes; postna-

tally, maternal childhood abuse history and children’s self-

reported exposure to violence were assessed at the 14-year

assessment, and children’s self-reported abuse histories at the

18-year visit. For all assessment visits, mother and child parti-

cipants were given the option of having items read to them by

interviewers to account for lower literacy levels and informed

consent was obtained. At the 14-year assessment, children pro-

vided assent, and at the 18-year assessment children provided

their own informed consent.

MeasuresAuthoritarian parenting attitudes (mother). The Parent Attitude

Questionnaire (PAQ) measures parental attitudes such as

authoritarianism, nurturance, rejection, and independence in

conjunction with the Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory

(AAPI; Bavolek, 1985). The AAPI is a self-report measure that

assesses attitudes about parenting in order to provide an index

of risk for maladaptive parenting. The AAPI includes scales

assessing inappropriate parental expectations, lack of empathy,

and responsiveness toward children’s needs, parental value of

physical punishment, and parent–child role reversal. Consistent

with prior research on an authoritarian parenting style (Baum-

rind, 1972), the PAQ authoritarianism scale measures maternal

parenting expectations that are high in control and low in

warmth. Items are rated on a 5-point scale, with higher ratings

indicating more agreement with statements such as Children

should not be allowed to question their parents’ decisions and

I believe too much affection and tenderness can harm or

weaken a child. The authoritarianism scale of the PAQ consists

of 5 items with an internal consistency coefficient of .74 and

has been shown to predict parenting outcomes (Miller, Miceli,

Whitman, & Borkowski, 1996; Sommer et al., 1993).

Exposure to community violence (children). The neighborhood

subscale of the Recent Exposure to Violence scale (EVS;

Singer, Anglin, Song, & Lunghofer, 1995) was used to assess

children’s exposure to community violence when adolescent

children were approximately 14 years of age. Specifically, chil-

dren in the current study reported the frequencies of directly

observing threats and violent actions in their neighborhoods

on a scale of 0 (never) to 3 (almost every day). For example,

participants were asked how often have you seen someone else

slapped, punched, or hit by someone in your neighborhood.

The neighborhood subscale has good external validity (Singer

et al., 1995). The internal consistency of items in the current

sample was high, a ¼ .85.

Presence of childhood abuse history (mothers and children). The

CTQ (Bernstein & Fink, 1998) is a 28-item retrospective self-

report questionnaire that assesses childhood maltreatment

experiences using a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (never true)

to 5 (very often true). Mothers completed the CTQ about their

own child abuse history at the 14-year assessment, and children

completed the CTQ at age 18. The subscales computed from

the 28-item CTQ (sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional

abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect) are appropriate

for both nonclinical and clinical populations, and have been

shown to have good reliability, and strong construct and exter-

nal validity, even among adolescent reporters (Bernstein &

Fink, 1998). For example, scores on the CTQ have been found

to be significantly correlated with trauma ratings from child

welfare records, reports of family members, and clinician rat-

ings (Bernstein et al., 1997, 2003).

In the current study, the sexual abuse, physical abuse, and

emotional abuse subscales (each composed of 5 items) were

utilized to determine the presence or absence of a childhood

abuse history. Child abuse was operationalized by any score

of physical abuse, sexual abuse, or emotional abuse that was

above the threshold for mild abuse on that subscale. Threshold

scores were distinct for each subscale (physical abuse >8, sex-

ual abuse >6, emotional abuse >9; see Bernstein & Fink, 1998,

for further details).

Results

Among adolescent mothers, 66% indicated a childhood history

of sexual, physical, or emotional abuse. Specifically, 43.7%reported above-threshold emotional abuse (22.9% mild,

10.4% moderate, and 10.4% severe); 42.1% physical abuse

(20% mild, 11.6% moderate, and 10.5% severe); and 38.5%sexual abuse (5.2% mild, 10.4% moderate, and 22.9% severe).

Overall, 18.8% of mothers reported mild abuse, 11.5% moder-

ate abuse, and 34.4% severe abuse in at least one domain

(emotional, physical, or sexual). Additionally, 20% reported

experiencing just one significant subtype of abuse, 24.6%reported two subtypes, and 18.5% reported all three subtypes

of abuse. Descriptive statistics associated with maternal abuse

status are presented in Table 1. There were no significant dif-

ferences on demographic variables, maternal IQ, or children’s

birth outcomes between mothers who reported a history of

abuse and those who did not. Additionally, there were no sig-

nificant differences between abuse groups on maternal

Valentino et al. 175

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authoritarian parenting attitudes or children’s reported exposure

to community violence.

Similar to their mothers, a large proportion of children

reported above-threshold child abuse. Specifically, 45.7%reported significant child abuse. 30.4% reported emotional

abuse (15.9% mild, 5.8% moderate, and 8.7% severe); 28.6%physical abuse (12.9% mild, 8.6% moderate, and 7.1% severe);

and 15.7% sexual abuse (5.7% mild, 8.6% moderate, and 1.4%severe). Overall, 27.1% of children reported mild abuse, 7.3%moderate abuse, and 17.7% severe abuse in at least one domain

(emotional, physical, or sexual). Additionally, 23.1% endorsed

experiencing one abuse subtype, 9.4% two subtypes, and

10.8% all three subtypes of abuse.

Interrelations between all study variables are presented in

Table 2. Given the high-risk nature of the sample in terms of

maternal age and IQ, both of these variables were included in

the correlation matrix. Age was not significantly related to any

variables of interest; however, maternal IQ was negatively

related to authoritarian attitudes and African American race.

Therefore, maternal IQ was covaried in regression analyses.

Consistent with the prior literature, authoritarian parenting atti-

tudes were positively and moderately correlated with African

American race. Authoritarian attitudes were negatively corre-

lated with child abuse, and maternal abuse was positively cor-

related with child abuse (Table 2).

Our first hypothesis focused on the intergenerational con-

tinuity of abuse. Chi-square analysis revealed that maternal

history of abuse clearly increased the risk for children to

experience abuse prior to age 18. Mothers with an abuse his-

tory were more likely to have children who reported abuse

(54.3%) than were mothers with no reported abuse history

(29.2%), w2(1)¼ 4.03, p < .05. Furthermore, of the children

who reported a history of abuse at age 18, 78.1% had moth-

ers who reported a personal history of child abuse. Nonethe-

less, approximately half of the mothers with a maltreatment

history were able to interrupt the cycle of intergenerational

abuse continuity.

The second and third hypotheses focused on mothers

with an abuse history (N ¼ 46) and identified variables that

distinguished families who demonstrated intergenerational

continuity from those who did not. Because of our interest

in the moderating role of race, the small number of Hispanic

American mothers who endorsed an abuse history (n ¼ 4)

were excluded from subsequent analyses. A logistic regres-

sion was performed using three steps. In the first step,

maternal IQ and race (a dichotomous variable that reflected

whether mothers were African American (1) or Caucasian

American (0)) were covaried. At the second step of the

analysis, maternal prenatal authoritarian attitudes and chil-

dren’s exposure to community violence were added to the

equation to evaluate Hypothesis 2. In the final step of the

logistic regression, a product term of authoritarian attitudes

and African American race was entered to evaluate whether

race moderated the relation of authoritarian attitudes to the

Table 2. Intercorrelations Among Demographic, Predictor, and Outcome Variables

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1. Maternal age 1.00 —2. Maternal IQ .06 1.0 —3. African American �.12 �.30* 1.0 —4. Authoritarian attitudes .02 �.41** .39** 1.0 —5. Community violence �.12 �.11 .15 .06 1.0 —6. Maternal abuse history �.04 .05 �.14 �.16 �.04 1.0 —7. Child abuse history .04 .10 �.13 �.30* .13 .24* 1.0

Note. For dichotomous variables (3, 6, 7), the variable name reflects the value coded as 1.*p < .05. **p < .01.

Table 1. Descriptive Statistics: Means and Standard Deviations for Demographic Variables by Maternal Abuse History

Abuse History (N ¼ 46) Abuse History (N ¼ 24)

Maternal age at child birth 17.3(1.0) 17.4(1.0)Maternal ethnicity

% African American 52.2 66.6Maternal IQ 89.9(11.1) 87.6(12.0)Maternal Hollingshead rating 69.6(1.5) 70.1(1.8)Child gender

% Male 52.2 66.6Child birth weight (g) 3370.7(536.2) 3265.7(463.0)Child Apgar score (at 5 min) 8.94(.77) 8.86(.71)Authoritarian attitudes at prenatal visit 9.34(2.5) 10.15(2.3)Child community violence exposure at age 14 1.61(2.0) 1.77(1.9)

Note. No significant differences were observed between groups.

176 Child Maltreatment 17(2)

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prediction of intergenerational continuity of abuse (Hypoth-

esis 3).

After controlling for race and maternal IQ, which contribu-

ted a nonsignificant proportion of variance to the model, the

addition of maternal prenatal authoritarian attitudes and chil-

dren’s exposure to community violence to the equation at the

second step significantly improved the model fit in predicting

the children’s abuse status at age 18, w2(2) ¼ 11.79, p < .01,

allowing for 71/4% accuracy in predictions of abuse continuity

(see Table 3). Consistent with Hypothesis 2, maternal authori-

tarian parenting attitudes was a significant predictor of child

abuse status at age 18. A comparison of the mean values and

standard deviations for the continuity and no continuity groups

on these variables is presented in Table 4. It should be noted

that the direction of the relation between authoritarian parent-

ing and child abuse was in the opposite direction than antici-

pated; low levels of authoritarian parenting were associated

with membership in the abuse continuity group. Additionally,

a positive relationship emerged between exposure to commu-

nity violence and membership in the abuse continuity group.

Finally, a product term of African American race and

authoritarian attitudes was calculated and entered as the third

step of the logistic regression to address whether the associa-

tion between authoritarian parenting attitudes and child abuse

status would be moderated by race. Results indicated that the

African American race by authoritarian attitudes product term

significantly improved model prediction, w2(1) ¼ 4.59, p < .05,

and accounted for significant variance over and above the main

effects of the individual predictors. Additionally, exposure to

community violence contributed a significant proportion of

unique variance to the prediction of children’s abuse status.

To evaluate the moderation of authoritarian parenting on

child abuse status by African American race, separate logistic

regressions were run among African American families, and

Caucasian American families. Among African American fam-

ilies, after controlling for maternal IQ, the addition of authori-

tarian parenting and exposure to community violence resulted

in a significant improvement in model prediction, Nagelkerke

R2 ¼ .58, w2(2) ¼ 13.28, p < .01, allowing for 83.3% accuracy

in predicting abuse continuity, and 72.7% accuracy in predict-

ing interruption of continuity. Authoritarian parenting was a

strong predictor of children’s abuse status, B ¼ �.89, p <

.05, such that lower authoritarian parenting was associated with

membership in the abuse continuity group. Community vio-

lence individually accounted for a nonsiginificant proportion

of variance B ¼ .45, ns. In contrast, among the Caucasian

American families, after controlling for maternal IQ, the addi-

tion of authoritarian parenting and exposure to community vio-

lence marginally improved model fit, Nagelkerke R2 ¼ .28,

w2(2)¼ 3.70, p¼ .15. Authoritarian parenting was not a signif-

icant predictor of children’s abuse status, and the direction of

its effect was opposite to the African American group, B ¼.55, ns. Community violence was marginally related to chil-

dren’s abuse status, B ¼ .98, p ¼ .13. In sum, the relation of

authoritarian parenting to children’s abuse status was moder-

ated by African American race, such that authoritarian parent-

ing was a protective factor among African American families

only. Figure 1 illustrates the relation of authoritarian parenting

to children’s abuse status by race.

Discussion

The goals of the current investigation were to identify protec-

tive factors at multiple ecological levels that could differentiate

families who interrupted intergenerational continuity of abuse

from those families whose children experienced maltreatment

by age 18, among a sample of low-income adolescent mothers

who reported a history of childhood abuse. The utilization of a

longitudinal design over 18 years; the consideration of risk and

protective factors at microsystem (authoritarian parenting atti-

tudes), and exosystem (community violence) levels; and the

examination of moderating processes represent a unique contri-

bution to the literature on the intergenerational continuity of

child abuse.

The rate of intergenerational continuity of child abuse

reported in the current investigation, 54.3%, is significantly

greater than prior prospective longitudinal studies, which have

reported rates up to 23% by the time children reached age 21

(e.g., Pears & Capaldi, 2001). It should be noted, however, that

this prior research focused on intergenerational transmission of

abuse, which represents a subset of families in which interge-

nerational continuity of abuse (as was assessed in the current

Table 3. Results of Logistic Regression Analysis Predicting ChildAbuse Continuity

Model R2 B (SE)

Step 1 .00African American .14(.70)Maternal IQ .00(.03)

Step 2 .35**African American �.11(.84)Maternal IQ �.04(.04)Authoritarian parenting attitudes �.53(.22)*Exposure to community violence .51(.27)

Step 3 .46*African American �8.56(4.43)Maternal IQ �.03(.04)Authoritarian parenting attitudes .03(.34)Exposure to community violence .62(.31)*Authoritarian � African American �.95(.48)*

Note. *p <.05. **p < .01.

Table 4. Means and Standard Deviations for IntergenerationalContinuity of Abuse as a Function of Authoritarian ParentingAttitudes and Exposure to Community Violence

AbuseContinuity

NoContinuity

Maternal authoritarian attitudes* 8.45(2.0) 10.33(2.8)Child exposure to community

violence*2.22(2.4) 0.95(1.4)

Note. *p < .05.

Valentino et al. 177

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study) is present. Nonetheless, the discrepancy between the rate

of intergenerational continuity of abuse in the current sample

and prior research is substantially larger than might be

expected. This high rate, however, is consistent with research

that has identified maternal age at first child-birth as one of the

three most significant risk factors in accounting for interge-

nerational continuity of child abuse, specifically, with maternal

age inversely related to risk for child abuse (Dixon et al., 2005).

Moreover, the current investigation is the first to provide pro-

spective longitudinal data on the intergenerational continuity

of abuse among low-income adolescent mothers and highlights

the significant extent to which the children of low-income ado-

lescent mothers are at risk for child maltreatment.

Increased community violence exposure was associated

with greater risk for intergenerational continuity of child abuse,

but only when considered within the context of authoritarian

parenting attitudes and race. This finding is consistent with

prior research that has established an association between chil-

dren’s physical abuse and their reported exposure to commu-

nity violence among school-aged children (Lynch &

Cicchetti, 1998) and adds to the body of literature which doc-

uments the adverse effects of exposure to community violence

on multiple aspects of child and family functioning (Margolin,

2000). Interestingly, Lynch and Cicchetti noted bidirectional

relationships between child abuse and community violence

exposure over a 1-year period; maltreated children, particularly

those with histories of physical abuse, reported higher exposure

to community violence and children’s exposure to community

violence significantly predicted subsequent traumatization

over the next year (Lynch & Cicchetti, 1998). Because the cur-

rent investigation did not obtain information regarding the spe-

cific ages when children’s self-reported abuse occurred, we

cannot ascertain the directionality of the relationship between

community violence exposure and risk for intergenerational

continuity of child abuse. Future longitudinal work should

attempt to assess community violence and child abuse at mul-

tiple time points to clarify the potential transactional relation-

ships between these two risk processes.

Authoritarian parenting attitudes conferred protection from

the intergenerational continuity of child abuse; however, this

effect was moderated by race such that the protective effects

of authoritarian parenting attitudes were relevant for the Afri-

can American families but not the Caucasian American fami-

lies. The current investigation addresses a significant gap in

the literature by evaluating a moderating process in the relation

between risk and/or protective factors and the intergenerational

continuity of child abuse (Berlin et al., 2011). Higher authori-

tarian parenting attitudes significantly predicted membership in

the no-continuity group among African American families, but

not among Caucasian American, demographically matched

families. Interestingly, higher rates of authoritarian parenting

attitudes were noted among African American families in the

no-continuity group only, whereas the abuse continuity group

of African American families and all of the Caucasian Ameri-

can families had comparable rates of relatively lower authori-

tarian attitudes. Therefore, we may conclude that increased

authoritarian attitudes were protective for the African Ameri-

can families, but did not differentiate between Caucasian

American families who continued versus broke the intergenera-

tional continuity of child abuse.

The significant moderation of parenting attitudes by race is

consistent with, and adds to, a growing literature that reveals

how parenting practices may be associated with different child

outcomes in different cultural contexts. Specifically, a number

of studies have indicated that authoritarian parenting, or firm

parental control among African American families, is associ-

ated with reductions in maladaptive behavior in children

(Deater-Deckard et al., 1996; Gunnoe & Mariner, 1997; Lans-

ford et al., 2004; Taylor & Roberts, 1995). Moreover, research

among African American families reveals that that low parental

supervision and monitoring are among factors associated with

adverse adolescent outcomes (Pittman & Chase-Lansdale,

2001), a finding which is consistent with our results showing

that belief in higher parental control (higher authoritarian par-

enting attitudes) was associated with reduced risk for child

abuse among low-income African American families.

Speculating why authoritarian parenting attitudes may be

associated with positive outcomes for African American fami-

lies, Furstenberg and colleagues (1989) have argued that higher

levels of perceived control over children in environments

where families experience daily threat (i.e., in communities

where neighborhood and school violence is high) is both adap-

tive and appropriate (Furstenberg et al., 1989). Parents may feel

that thwarting child autonomy is necessary to ensure safety.

Though this explanation is reasonable, especially for families

living in poverty, it does not account for why authoritarian par-

enting attitudes would be adaptive for African American fam-

ilies, but not for Caucasian American families who are facing

the same environmental risk. Within the current sample,

Figure 1. The relation of child abuse status to authoritarian parentingattitudes among African American and Caucasian American adoles-cent mothers.

178 Child Maltreatment 17(2)

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authoritarian attitudes were negatively correlated with abuse,

but only differentiated between those who were able to break

the intergenerational continuity of child abuse and those who

were not among African American families. This appears to

be due to the fact that elevated levels of authoritarian attitudes

were more common among African American mothers relative

to Caucasian American mothers. Thus, even when facing the

same environmental risk, low-income Caucasian American

mothers did not possess similar rates of authoritarian attitudes

relative to African American mothers, and their relatively

lower levels of authoritarian attitudes did not confer protection

or risk for the intergenerational continuity of abuse among

Caucasian American families.

Another explanation for why authoritarian parenting atti-

tudes are protective among African American families may

involve cultural differences in parental perceptions of danger

and associated experiences of distress and worry related to their

children’s future. For example, African American families may

experience psychological distress to a heightened degree

(Mcloyd, 1990), and worry more about their children’s future

in relation to socioeconomic hardships than do Caucasian

American parents (Pinderhughes et al., 2000). There is evidence

that this ‘‘worry’’ accounts for African American parents’

increased tendency to use physical punishment (Pinderhughes

et al., 2000). Extrapolating these findings from physical punish-

ment to the use of authoritarian parenting styles, it may be that

increased psychological distress and parental concern for chil-

dren’s futures motivates stronger authoritarian parenting atti-

tudes among African American parents; subsequently, this

greater control allows parents to better protect their children

from childhood abuse. Future research should test specific

mechanisms to explain why authoritarian parenting attitudes are

protective for African American families, but not for Caucasian

American families. Furthermore, additional longitudinal studies

are needed to track associations between prenatal authoritarian

attitudes and actual parenting behavior in relation to interge-

nerational continuity of abuse among different racial groups.

These efforts may be informed by research that has delineated

how different ecological niches contribute to parents’ goals and

behavior in child rearing and how these may be differentially

effective depending on the cultural context in which they are

situated (Coll & Magnuson, 1999).

There are a number of limitations of the current investiga-

tion. First, child abuse data were collected via self-report.

Though the CTQ is a standardized measure with excellent

reliability and validity (Bernstein & Fink, 1998), utilizing mul-

tiple informants and multiple methods for assessing childhood

maltreatment experiences would allow for more complete

assessment of child abuse history. Nonetheless, we were able

to utilize the same metric for both mother and child report

which addresses a significant limitation of prior work on the

intergenerational continuity of child abuse (Berlin et al.,

2011). Future research should ask mothers for permission to

access child welfare records to track new reports, investiga-

tions, and substantiations of maltreatment over time. Addition-

ally, it would be ideal to assess maternal childhood

maltreatment history prenatally; although the CTQ has high

stability overtime, prenatal measurement of maternal trauma

would ensure that her experiences as a parent do not influence

reporting of her own maltreatment history. Another limitation

centers on the lack of information available on the specific per-

petrators of abuse. As such, we were unable to evaluate the

intergenerational transmission of abuse by differentiating

mothers who were victims of childhood abuse who subse-

quently perpetrated abuse to their own children and those who

did not. Nonetheless, mothers are almost always implicated in

child welfare cases, if not for actual commission of the abuse,

then at least for failure to provide for children’s safety (i.e.,

neglect). Future research would be enhanced by thorough

assessments of the perpetrator, and assessments of the severity

and chronicity of childhood abuse experiences. With a larger

sample sizes, issues regarding continuity of specific maltreat-

ment subtypes could be addressed. Finally, replication of the

current results within a larger sample is necessary, particularly

regarding the nonsignificant relations among authoritarian par-

enting, community violence and intergenerational continuity of

maltreatment for the Caucasian American families. It is possi-

ble that the relatively smaller sample size of the Caucasian

American group precluded our ability to detect significant

effects.

The current investigation has a number of substantial clini-

cal implications. First, our findings highlight the need for

researchers to consider the role of community violence, race,

and culture in the development of parenting intervention and

prevention programs for child maltreatment. As the results of

the current investigation suggest, the implementation of vari-

ous parent training programs and their effects on risk for child

maltreatment may vary based on racial context; race and cul-

ture should, therefore, enter into the design and evaluation of

intervention curricula. Furthermore, intervention programming

should consider how to intervene against maltreatment without

thwarting parenting practices that may be adaptive in particular

cultural contexts. Specifically, among low-income African

American families, intervention and preventive efforts should

evaluate how to best provide parent training in ways that are

respectful of authoritarian parenting attitudes. Moreover,

should the protective effects of authoritarian parenting attitudes

among African American families continue to be supported

with subsequent research, intervention programs may want to

consider directly facilitating the development of these parent-

ing attitudes among at-risk African American mothers while

still reducing the use of physical punishment. Finally, it seems

important to screen all low-income adolescent mothers for their

history of childhood abuse and their exposure to community

violence; targeting preventive programs to these families dur-

ing pregnancy or early in their child’s life may decrease rates

of intergenerational continuity of child abuse.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to

the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Valentino et al. 179

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Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for

the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This

research was supported by NIH grant HD 026456. The third author

was a NIH predoctoral trainee, T32-HD 007184.

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