Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Cecilia Casanueva, PhD, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box 8185, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8185, 919-843 4458, ceciliacasanueva@earthlink.net, Sandra L. Martin, PhD, Maternal and Child Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 403 Rosenau Hall, Chapel Hill, ND 27517-7608, Desmond K. Runyan, MD, Social Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 360 Wing C Med School, Chapel Hill, NC 27517-9017, Richard Barth, PhD, School Of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Rm 524j 301 Pittsboro St, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, and Robert H. Bradley, PhD, Center for Applied Studies in Education, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2801 S. University Ave., Little Rock, AR 72204.

The detrimental effects of intimate partner violence on the physical and mental health of abused women have led some researchers to propose that intimate partner violence may impair women's parenting skills. This study examines maternal parenting and the timing of mother's experiences of intimate partner violence in a nationally representative sample of families who have been reported to Child Protective Services (NSCAW). The study sample was limited to mothers whose children who were not in out-of home care and younger than 10 years old (N= 1,943). Women who experienced intimate partner violence in the past but not currently had slightly higher scores (i.e., better) concerning parental responsiveness and learning stimulation than currently abused women, while there were no significant differences between women who were currently experiencing intimate partner violence and women who had never experienced intimate partner violence. Compared to previous reports of maternal parenting in typical or average American households (NLSY), the mothers in this study had very similar proportions of positive responses for parental responsiveness and learning stimulation. Regarding the reliance on corporal punishment as a disciplinary technique (spanking), the stress associated with intimate partner violence appears to have no effect on the frequency with which spanking was used, with mothers in this study reporting similar or less use of spanking than NLSY mothers. Thus, based on the results of the HOME-SF, no evidence of diminished parenting was found in mothers abused by an intimate partner as compared to mothers not abused by a partner.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. Describe patterns of maternal parenting among women who experienced intimate partner violence in the past, currently abused women, and women who had never experienced intimate partner violence.
• 2. Identify maternal, child and sociodemographic characteristics associated with maternal parenting.
• 3. Recognize the potential impact of the proposition that intimate partner violence may impair women’s parenting skills on women’s being stigmatized, and the unwarranted compromise of their legal position in child custody cases.

Keywords: Women, Children

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation