TY - JOUR
T1 - Glimpsing the Iceberg
T2 - Parent-Child Physical Aggression and Abuse
AU - Slep, Amy M.Smith
AU - Rhoades, Kimberly A.
AU - Lorber, Michael F.
AU - Heyman, Richard E.
N1 - Funding Information:
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 U.S. Department of Defense grant W81XWH0710328 and U.S. Centers for Disease Control grant 5R49CE00091902. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Air Force, or the Centers for Disease Control.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Despite evidence that parents’ physical aggression abuse has long-lasting negative consequences, information about the true population prevalence of aggression and physical abuse is limited. We have even less information about how parental aggression and abuse vary by child age, parent gender, and how that aggression and abuse might be clustered within families. To address these gaps, an anonymous, computer-based assessment was administered to nearly 40,000 parents of more than 60,000 children in the United States Air Force, which included a detailed assessment on up to four minor children of aggression and its impact. The survey was the largest of its type ever conducted in the United States, allowing for stable, crossvalidated estimation of rates of both corporal punishment and physical abuse. Approximately 39% of children experienced corporal punishment, peaking at three years of age, and 7% experienced physical abuse, peaking at age six. About 45% of parents reported perpetrating corporal punishment and 8% abuse; these rates were higher in multi-child families and most often involved more than one child. Parent gender was not associated with physical aggression or abuse.
AB - Despite evidence that parents’ physical aggression abuse has long-lasting negative consequences, information about the true population prevalence of aggression and physical abuse is limited. We have even less information about how parental aggression and abuse vary by child age, parent gender, and how that aggression and abuse might be clustered within families. To address these gaps, an anonymous, computer-based assessment was administered to nearly 40,000 parents of more than 60,000 children in the United States Air Force, which included a detailed assessment on up to four minor children of aggression and its impact. The survey was the largest of its type ever conducted in the United States, allowing for stable, crossvalidated estimation of rates of both corporal punishment and physical abuse. Approximately 39% of children experienced corporal punishment, peaking at three years of age, and 7% experienced physical abuse, peaking at age six. About 45% of parents reported perpetrating corporal punishment and 8% abuse; these rates were higher in multi-child families and most often involved more than one child. Parent gender was not associated with physical aggression or abuse.
KW - child abuse
KW - parent-child aggression
KW - physical abuse
KW - prevalence
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U2 - 10.1177/10775595221112921
DO - 10.1177/10775595221112921
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85143591022
JO - Child Maltreatment
JF - Child Maltreatment
SN - 1077-5595
ER -