Relationship of Socioeconomic Status to the Etiology and Developmental Sequelae of Physical Child Abuse

This article studies how socioeconomic status (SES) may be related to the etiology of physical child abuse and to the consequences of abuse for child development. It reports a collaboration of two independent child abuse research projects. The general perspective and design of these two projects overlapped, which made possible the assessment of the generalizability of findings across samples from two geographical locations that differ in ethnic and socioeconomic composition. The total sample consisted of 132 4- to 8-year-old physically abused and comparison children and their mothers. Measures of child-rearing context and child development common to both projects were examined. Results indicated robust effects of abuse and similar patterns in both projects. In some instances, interactive effects of SES with abuse status were found, suggesting different relationships between SES and certain child-rearing approaches in abusive and nonabusive families.