This article reports the prevalence of neglectful behavior by parents of university students in 17 nations (6 in Europe, 2 in North America, 2 in Latin America, 5 in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand) and tests the hypothesis that neglect is a risk factor for violence against a dating partner. The percentage at each university who experienced neglectful behavior ranged from 3.2% to 36% (median 12%), and the percentage who perpetrated violence against dating partners ranged from 15% to 45% (median 28%). Multilevel modeling found that the more neglectful behavior experienced as a child the greater the probability of assaulting and injuring a dating partner and that the link between experiencing neglect and perpetrating violence is stronger at universities in which dating violence is more prevalent. Efforts to help parents avoid neglectful behavior can make an important contribution to primary prevention of partner violence and probably also other forms of child maltreatment.
Archer, J. (1999). Assessment of the reliability of the Conflict Tactics Scales: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 14(12), 1263-1289.
2.
Archer, J. (2000). Sex differences in aggression between heterosexual partners: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 126(5), 651-680.
3.
Bevan, E., & Higgins, D. (2002). Is domestic violence learned? The contribution of five forms of child maltreatment to men’s violence and adjustment. Journal of Family Violence, 17(3), 223-245.
4.
Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss (2nd ed.). New York: Basic Books.
5.
Bryk, A. S., & Raudenbush, S. W. (1992). Hierarchical linear models. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
6.
Cawson, P., Wattam, C., Brooker, S., & Graham, K. (2000). Child maltreatment in the United Kingdom: A study of the prevalence of child abuse and neglect. London: NSPCC.
7.
Christensen, E. (1996). Definition, measuring and prevalence of child neglect: A study of children aged 0-1 year. Copenhagen, Denmark: The Danish National Institute of Social Research.
8.
Costin, L., Karger, H., & Stoesz, D. (1996). The politics of child abuse and neglect in America. New York: Oxford Press.
9.
Crittenden, P. M., & DiLalla, D. L. (1988). Compulsive compliance: the development of an inhibitory strategy in infancy. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 16, 585-599.
10.
Department of Families, Queensland, Australia. (2002). Annual report 2000-2001: Book 1. Queensland, Australia: Queensland Government Printer, Brisbane.
11.
Duggan, A., McFarlane, E., Fuddy, L., Burrell, L., Higman, S. M., Widham, A., et al. (2004). Randomized trial of a statewide home visiting program: Impact in preventing child abuse and neglect. Child Abuse & Neglect, 28, 597-622.
12.
Flowers, R. B. (2000). Domestic crimes, family violence and child abuse: A study of contemporary American society. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
13.
Henry, B., & Silva, P. A. (1996). Temperamental and familial predictors of violent and nonviolent criminal convictions: Age 3 to age 18. Developmental Psychology, 32, 614-624.
14.
Hildyard, K. L., & Wolfe, D. A. (2002). Child neglect: Developmental issues and outcomes. Child Abuse & Neglect, 26, 679-695.
15.
Kendall-Tackett, K. A., & Eckenrode, J. (1997). The effects of neglect on academic achievement and disciplinary problems: A developmental perspective. In G. K. Kantor & J. L. Jasinski (Ed.), Out of the darkness: Contemporary perspectives on family violence (pp. 105-118). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
16.
Knutson, J. F., DeGarmo, D. S., & Reid, J. B. (2004). Social disadvantage and neglectful parenting as precursors to the development of antisocial and aggressive child behavior: Testing a theoretical model. Aggressive Behavior, 30, 187-205.
17.
Mazzeo, S. E., & Espelage, D. L. (2002). Association between childhood physical and emotional abuse and disordered eating behaviors in female undergraduates: An investigation of the mediating role of alexithymia and depression. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 49(1), 86-100.
18.
National Research Council. (1993). Understanding child abuse and neglect. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
19.
Paivio, S. C., & Cramer, K. M. (2004). Factor structure and reliability of the childhood trauma questionnaire in a Canadian undergraduate student sample. Child Abuse & Neglect, 28, 889-904.
20.
Raudenbush, S. W., Bryk, A. S., Cheong, Y. F., & Congdon, R. T., Jr. (2004). HLM 6: Hierarchical Linear and Nonlinear Modeling. Lincolnwood, IL: Scientific Software International.
21.
Reynolds, W. M. (1982). Development of reliable and valid short forms of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 38(1), 119-125.
22.
Robbins, L. N. (1966). Deviant children grow up: A sociological and psychiatric study of sociopathic personality. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins.
23.
Rose, G. (1985). Sick individuals and sick populations. International Journal of Epidemiology, 14(1), 32-38.
24.
Sedlak, A. J., & Broadhurst, D. D. (1996). Third National Incidence Study of child abuse and neglect (Final report). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
25.
Spitz, R. A. (1959). A genetic field theory of ego formation: Its implications for pathology. New York: International Universities Press.
26.
Stets, J. E., & Straus, M. A. (1989). The marriage license as a hitting license: A comparison of assaults in dating, cohabiting, and married couples. Journal of Family Violence, 4(2), 161-180.
27.
Straus, M. A. (1990). The Conflict Tactics Scales and its critics: An evaluation and new data on validity and reliability. In M. A. Straus & R. J. Gelles (Eds.), Physical violence in American families: Risk factors and adaptations to violence in 8,145 families (pp. 49-73). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
28.
Straus, M. A. (1994). State-to-state differences in social inequality and social bonds in relation to assaults on wives in the United States. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 25(1), 7-24.
29.
Straus, M. A. (2001). Beating the devil out of them: Corporal punishment in American families and its effects on children (2nd ed.). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
30.
Straus, M. A. (2004). Women’s violence toward men is a serious social problem. In R. J. Gelles & D. R. Loseke (Eds.), Current controversies on family violence (2nd ed., pp. 55-77). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
31.
Straus, M. A. (in press). Cross-cultural reliability and validity of the Multidimensional Neglectful Behavior Scale Adult Recall Short Form. Child Abuse & Neglect.
32.
Straus, M. A., Hamby, S. L., Boney-McCoy, S., & Sugarman, D. B. (1996). The revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2): Development and preliminary psychometric data. Journal of Family Issues, 17(3), 283-316.
33.
Straus, M. A., Hamby, S. L., Boney-McCoy, S., & Sugarman, D. B. (1999). The personal and relationships profile (PRP). Durham: University of New Hampshire, Family Research Laboratory. Available from http://pubpages.unh.edu/%7Emas2/
34.
Straus, M. A., Hamby, S. L., Finkelhor, D., Moore, D. W., & Runyan, D. (1998). Identification of child maltreatment with the parent-child Conflict Tactics Scales: Development and psychometric data for a national sample of American parents. Child Abuse and Neglect, 22, 249-270.
35.
Straus, M. A., & International Dating Violence Research Consortium. (2004). Prevalence of violence against dating partners by male and female university students worldwide. Violence Against Women, 10(7), 790-811.
36.
Straus, M. A., & Kaufman Kantor, G. (2005). Definition and measurement of neglect: Some general principles and their application to self-report measures. Child Abuse & Neglect, 29(1), 19-29.
37.
Straus, M. A., Kinard, E. M., & Williams, L. M. (1995). The Multidimensional Neglectful Behavior Scale, Form A: Adolescent and adult-recall version. Durham: University of New Hampshire. Available from http://pubpages.unh.edu/%7Emas2/
38.
Straus, M. A., & Mouradian, V. E. (1999, November 19). Preliminary psychometric data for the Personal and Relationships Profile (PRP): A multi-scale tool for clinical screening and research on partner violence. Paper presented at the American Society of Criminology, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
39.
Tremblay, R. E. (2003). Why socialization fails: The case of chronic physical aggression. In B. B. Lahey, T. E. Moffitt, & A. Caspi (Eds.), Causes of conduct disorder and juvenile delinquency (pp. 182-224). New York: Guilford.
40.
UNICEF. (1997). United Nations convention on the rights of the child. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/crc/conven.htm
41.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Children, Youth and Families. (1999). Child maltreatment 1997: Reports from the states to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
42.
Widom, C. S. (1989). Child abuse, neglect, and violent criminal behavior. Criminology, 272, 251-271.
43.
Widom, C. S., & Maxfield, M. G. (2001). An update on the “cycle of violence.”Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.
