Does Childhood Psychological Abuse Contribute to Intimate Partner Violence Victimization? An Investigation Using the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Interview

Abstract

Although psychological abuse is recognized as a particularly insidious form of child abuse, research on the impact of this type of abuse related to intimate partner violence (IPV) is scant. This study examined the contribution of childhood psychological abuse to IPV in female victims and non-victims. Furthermore, it investigated the role of cumulative abuse in predicting IPV. The study included 38 women victims of IPV and 40 non-IPV women. All participants were investigated using the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Interview (CECA); the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2) and the IPV History Interview were used to assess IPV in the last year and lifetime, respectively. Results indicated that psychological abuse was a stronger predictor of IPV than other maltreatment types. Furthermore, dose-response effects of cumulative abuse on IPV are well evidenced. Future research should continue examining impacts of psychological abuse on IPV so as to further inform clinical practice and intervention planning.

Childhood Emotional Maltreatment and Adulthood Romantic Relationship Well-Being: A Multilevel, Meta-Analytic Review

“…As compared to physical and sexual maltreatment, emotional maltreatment is more pervasive as it can occur in isolation and also constitutes a core component of the other types of maltreatment, but its consequences are usually not immediate or easily observable and thus timely intervention is difficult (Wright, 2014). Furthermore, among various forms of early maltreatment, emotional maltreatment has been extensively shown to be particularly influential in shaping later adjustment in adulthood (Infurna et al, 2016; LoCascio et al, 2018). As childhood emotional maltreatment has been examined in the existing research either as emotional abuse and neglect separately (e.g., Paradis & Boucher, 2010) or as emotional maltreatment composite without specifying subtypes (e.g., Liu et al, 2018), in the present study, we coded childhood emotional maltreatment at the effect size level as a three-category construct: childhood emotional abuse, childhood emotional neglect, and childhood emotional maltreatment composite.…”

Childhood experiences of maltreatment, reflective functioning and attachment in adolescent and young adult mothers: Effects on mother-infant interaction and emotion regulation

“…The main scales include assessment of neglect, antipathy, physical and psychological abuse from different parent figures as well as sexual abuse from any perpetrator. Parental antipathy assesses hostility, coldness or rejection shown to the child; antipathy is taken by Bifulco to equate with parental emotional neglect that is considered a type of psychological maltreatment as described in the literature (Claussen & Crittenden, 1991;LoCascio et al, 2018). Parental neglect indicates lack of material care, lack of interest in the school activities and friendships of the child.…”

Physical Conflict During Pregnancy: A Socioecological, Cross-Cultural Examination of Risk and Protective Factors for New Zealand Women

“…As the child is the focus of Growing Up data collection, it was also not possible to collect information about other aspects of parents’ lives that may have contributed to the experience of IPV. Parents’ experience of psychological or emotional abuse during childhood (LoCascio et al, 2021), and personal or cultural beliefs about gender roles, conflict, and violence were also not captured, and this may be particularly important for Māori women who have experienced a chronic legacy of post-colonial racism (Dhunna et al, 2018; Thaggard & Montayre, 2019). Results should also be interpreted as demonstrating similarities and differences in IPV factors for different cultures within New Zealand; neither causality nor direction of causality can be inferred.…”