Affiliation:
1. Tampere University, Finland
2. South Ostrobothnia Hospital District, City of Seinäjoki, Finland
3. Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), City of Helsinki, Finland
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to investigate parent-related risk factor combinations that explain family violence (FV), which refers to intimate partner violence and child maltreatment (CM). The data were collected from parents with a 4-year-old child using a nationwide retrospective cross-sectional survey conducted in Finland (FinChildren) ( N = 10,737). The research questions were as follows: (a) How are parent-related risk factors associated with FV against children and the spouse? (b) How does the accumulation of parent-related risk factors within three risk factor clusters explain FV? Analyses were carried out using cross-tabulations with χ2 tests, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and binary logistic regression analyses. The risk factor clusters built based on the EFA were as follows: parental well-being, parent’s childhood adversities, and parent’s health. Our results indicated that even a single risk factor predicted the likelihood of FV. In the well-being risk factor cluster, the odds for the occurrence of FV in parents with one well-being risk factor were double (odds ratios [OR] = 2.21; confidence intervals [CI]: [1.99, 2.45]) and in parents with at least four risk factors was six times (OR = 6.05; CI: [4.48, 8.18]) compared to those with no risk factor. We concluded that (a) the more different risk factors parents had, the more likely they were to report FV and (b) the accumulation of risk factors for well-being contributes most to the occurrence of the risk of FV. As a result, we emphasize the importance of identifying families with concurrent risk factors. However, any individual concerns must be addressed with parents and they must be supported in coping with their everyday life.
Subject
Applied Psychology,Clinical Psychology
Reference45 articles.
1. Aromaa A., Koskinen S. (Eds.) (2002). Terveys ja toimintakyky Suomessa. Terveys 2000—tutkimuksen perustulokset. [Health and functional capasity in Finland. Baseline results of the Health 2000 health examination survey.] Kansanterveyslaitoksen julkaisuja B3/2002, Helsinki.
2. Bartlett J. D., Kotake C., Fauth R., Easterbrooks M. A. (2017). Intergenerational transmission of child abuse and neglect: Do maltreatment type, perpetrator, and substantiation status matter? Child Abuse & Neglect, 63, 84–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu2016.11021
3. Failure to Report Effect Sizes
4. Current Controversies within Intimate Partner Violence: Overlooking Bidirectional Violence
5. Family members’ perspectives of child protection services, a metasynthesis of the literature