One of the most widely accepted ideas in the family violence literature is that exposure to marital violence in one's youth increases the likelihood of being a batterer or victim later in one's own adult intimate relationships. Yet, little is known about the actual psychological and interpersonal processes whereby violence is transmitted across generations. This investigation is aimed at the detailed examination of how marital violence is associated with specific behavioral, cognitive, and emotional outcomes in children, and how these associations are mediated by parent-child relationship variables, as well as by individual characteristics of the parents and the child. Stage 1 of the study assesses mother-father-child family units of 180 preschoolers and 180 preadolescents on three types of self-report measures: predisposing marital conflict variables; child outcomes; and parent-child as well as individual resources mediators. In Stage 2 of the study, half of the original samples will return for direct observation of conflictual marital interactions, conflictual parent-child interactions, and parentchild teaching interactions. In addition, children of the preadolescent sample will be presented with simulated conflict situations to evaluate their cognitive and emotional reactions to family conflict. Stage 2 subjects will be selected to directly compare families exhibiting evidence of: (a) husband-to-wife violence; (b) high marital conflict but no physical aggression; and (c) low marital conflict. The primary goal of the study is to examine how marital violence, as opposed to nonviolent but high marital conflict, affects children's overall adjustment as well as the ways that children think about and react to family conflict. Exploration into variables that mediate the association between marital violence and negative child outcomes will help identify what makes some individuals more vulnerable than others to the negative impact of exposure to violence. This information has relevance for intervention and prevention efforts aimed at disrupting the intergenerational transmission of violence.
