Co-occurrence of Witnessed Parental Violence and Child Physical Abuse from a National Sample of Adolescents

This study examined the relations between witnessed parental violence (PV) and child physical abuse (CPA) over a one-year period among a nationally representative sample of 2,514 adolescents, ages 12-18. History of witnessed PV (Wave 1) prospectively predicted new experiences (controlling for abuse history) and first experiences of CPA reported at Wave 2. Conversely, history of CPA predicted new experiences of PV, but not first experiences. For adolescents who reported witnessed PV and CPA, witnessed PV preceded CPA in 70% of cases. Most common configuration was single-perpetrator of violence. Additional perpetrator and sequencing configurations are reported. Study findings addressed several limitations in the literature by including use of adolescent report, longitudinal design, inclusion of perpetrator identity, and a nationally representative sample.