Dixon Louise, Browne Kevin, Hamilton-Giachritsis Catherine
Centre for Forensic and Family Psychology, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, UK.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2005 Jan;46(1):47-57. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00339.x.
This study provides an exploration of factors implicated in the intergenerational cycle of child maltreatment. Families with newborns where at least one of the parents was physically and/or sexually abused as a child (AP families) were compared in terms of risk factors to families where the parents had no childhood history of victimization (NAP families). The mediational properties of risk factors in the intergenerational cycle of maltreatment were then explored.
Information was collected by community nurses as a part of the 'health visiting' service. Data was collated across 4351 families, of which 135 (3.1%) had a parent who self-reported a history of abuse in childhood. The health visitor visited each family at home when the child was 4 to 6 weeks of age to assess the presence of risk factors.
Within 13 months after birth, 9 (6.7%) AP families were referred for maltreating their own child in comparison to 18 (.4%) NAP families. Assessments found a significantly higher number of risk factors for AP families. Mediational analysis demonstrated that the presence of three significant risk factors (parenting under 21 years, history of mental illness or depression, residing with a violent adult) provided partial mediation of the intergenerational continuity of child maltreatment, explaining 53% of the total effect.
Prevention may be possible, once a history of parental childhood abuse has been identified, by offering services in priority to those families where a parent is under 21 years, has a history of mental illness/depression and/or there is a violent adult residing in the household. However, it must also be acknowledged that these factors do not provide a full causal account of the intergenerational transmission and consideration should be given to additional factors, such as parenting styles (see Part II of this mediational model, Dixon, Hamilton-Giachritsis, and Browne, 2004).
本研究探讨了与儿童虐待代际循环相关的因素。将父母中至少一方在童年时期遭受过身体虐待和/或性虐待的有新生儿家庭（AP家庭）与父母无童年受害史的家庭（NAP家庭）在风险因素方面进行了比较。随后，对虐待代际循环中风险因素的中介作用进行了探究。
社区护士作为“健康访视”服务的一部分收集信息。整理了4351个家庭的数据，其中135个家庭（3.1%）的父母中有一方自述有童年虐待史。健康访视员在孩子4至6周大时到每个家庭进行家访，以评估风险因素的存在情况。
在孩子出生后的13个月内，9个（6.7%）AP家庭因虐待自己的孩子而被转介，相比之下，NAP家庭有18个（0.4%）。评估发现AP家庭的风险因素数量明显更多。中介分析表明，三个显著风险因素（21岁以下育儿、精神疾病或抑郁症病史、与暴力成年人同住）对儿童虐待的代际连续性起到了部分中介作用，解释了总效应的53%。
一旦确定了父母童年虐待史，对于父母年龄在21岁以下、有精神疾病/抑郁症病史和/或家中有暴力成年人的家庭，优先提供服务，预防可能是可行的。然而，还必须认识到，这些因素并不能完全解释代际传播的因果关系，应考虑其他因素，如育儿方式（见本中介模型的第二部分，迪克森、汉密尔顿 - 贾赫里西斯和布朗，2004年）。
