Mother's age and risk for physical abuse

Abstract

It is widely believed that young mothers are at greater risk of engaging in physical abuse. However, this relationship is not clearly supported by previous empirical research. This study reexamines the issue using a nationally representative sample of 1,997 mothers. All analyses controlled for family income, race, number of minor children in the home, age of abused child, mother's education, and whether mother was a single parent. Physical abuse was measured with the Conflict Tactics Scales. Using mother's age at time of birth of the abused child, the younger the mother, the greater the rate of child abuse; however, there was not a significant relationship when mother's age was measured at age at time of abuse. Large families and minority group children were also found to be at greater risk of abuse. The paper discusses implications for further research and for prevention of child abuse.