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Mothers and daughters of domestic violence: Parenting as a moderator of risk and resilience in adolescence

This study examines the long-term effects of spousal violence on adolescent daughters' adjustment. The continuity of marital violence over time is proposed to affect the mother-daughter relationship via parenting. Two primary goals are addressed in the study. First, the influence of marital violence, psychological abuse, psychopathology and substance use on parenting is assessed. The second goal is designed to answer the question of how marital violence, psychological abuse, maternal risk factors and parenting affect the development of problem behaviors in girls. A total of 137 mother-daughter pairs were interviewed at three points in time spanning nearly 9 years. Mothers were interviewed in 1991 and 1997 about spousal abuse. In 1997, they also were asked about their mental health, substance use and parenting practices. Daughters were interviewed in 1997 about their mother's parenting style and again in 1999 about their own adjustment and development of problem behaviors. The findings demonstrate that women experiencing violence in their marital relationships in 1991 are likely to be involved in psychologically abusive relationships in 1997. Marital violence, psychological abuse, maternal psychopathology, and substance abuse significantly predict mother's parenting style. Maternal parenting style predicts the daughters' adjustment in 1999. Multiple problem behaviors emerged for girls living with spousal violence. Responsive parenting was found to be a protective factor against several problem behaviors for daughters. Maternal psychological abuse and substance use in 1997 were found to be risk factors for daughters' poor outcome in 1999. The clinical implications of the findings and future directions for research are discussed.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/279902
Date January 2001
CreatorsCooper, Jayne Elaine
ContributorsBootzin, Richard R.
PublisherThe University of Arizona.
Source SetsUniversity of Arizona
Languageen_US
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext, Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic)
RightsCopyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.

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