The goal of the proposed research is to examine how exposure to parental violence operates within the contest of additional risk factors (low socioeconomic status, maternal depression, ;ack of moth-child relationships in the relation between exposure and children's social behavior. The aforementioned risk factors, aggressive expectations, severity and duration of violence witnessed, aggressive behavior problems, and social competencies of 150 children from violent homes will be compared to those of a community group of children where conflict ranges from verbal discord to low level aggression and does not include violence. Parents, shelter counselors, and teachers will complete several measures regarding family violence and their child's functioning, mothers will complete additional measures assessing their degree of depressive symptomatology and their perceptions of moth-child relationship positivity, and children will complete several measures assessing their aggressive expectations in peer relationships, mother-child relationship positivity, and their perceptions of warmth and conflict in their close peer relationship. This research has implications for improving models of the processes through which parental violence impacts on development and for informing prevention and intervention strategies to help child witnesses adjust to their experiences.
