Hostname: page-component-77f85d65b8-pztms Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-04-14T04:08:40.170Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Is there a female cycle of violence after exposure to childhood maltreatment? A meta-analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 April 2019

Mareike Augsburger Open the ORCID record for Mareike Augsburger [Opens in a new window] ,
Kayley Basler  and
Andreas Maercker Open the ORCID record for Andreas Maercker [Opens in a new window]
Mareike Augsburger*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Kayley Basler
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Andreas Maercker
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Switzerland
*
Author for correspondence: Mareike Augsburger, E-mail: m.augsburger@psychologie.uzh.ch
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Several studies have demonstrated a vicious cycle of violence, in which experiences of childhood maltreatment (CM) transition into later perpetration of aggressive acts. But evidence for the presence of this cycle in adult women is mixed. The aim of this meta-analysis is to investigate the strength of associations and the mechanisms underlying a cycle of violence in women. Databases were searched for terms related to female aggression, violence, delinquency, antisocial behavior, or offending in addition to exposure to traumatic experiences, abuse, or maltreatment during childhood. Only peer-reviewed studies were included that investigated associations between any type of CM and different acts of aggression. Multi-level meta-analyses were applied, as well as meta-regressions, all based on Cohen's d. K = 34 studies were identified. The overall association between exposure to CM was in the positive but small range (Cohen's d = 0.30). There was no significant difference between specific types of abuse and/or neglect. However, associations were smaller for the perpetration of sexual aggression and violent crime compared with other acts of aggression. These findings underline the long-lasting and devastating impact of CM, including types of maltreatment that were long assumed to be less severe. Due to the limited number of available studies, interactions between types of CM and aggression could not be modeled, thus compromising their probable interacting contribution to the cycle of violence. Early interventions targeting families and women at risk are critical in order to prevent ongoing cycles of violence.

Keywords

Abuseaggressionchildhood maltreatmentcycle of violencemeta-analysisneglectperpetrationvictimization

Information

Type
Review Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 49 , Issue 11 , August 2019 , pp. 1776 - 1786
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Altman, DG and Bland, JM (2011) How to obtain the confidence interval from a P value. BMJ 343, d2090.Google Scholar
Anda, RF, Felitti, VJ, Bremner, JD, Walker, JD, Whitfield, C, Perry, BD, Dube, SR and Giles, WH (2006) The enduring effects of abuse and related adverse experiences in childhood. A convergence of evidence from neurobiology and epidemiology. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience 256, 174–186.Google Scholar
Archer, J (2000) Sex differences in aggression between heterosexual partners: a meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin 126, 651–680.Google Scholar
Archer, J (2004) Sex differences in aggression in real-world settings: a meta-analytic review. Review of General Psychology 8, 291–322.Google Scholar
Assink, M and Wibbelink, CJM (2016) Fitting three-level meta-analytic models in R: a step-by-step tutorial. The Quantitative Methods for Psychology 12, 154–174.Google Scholar
Augsburger, M, Meyer-Parlapanis, D, Bambonyé, M, Elbert, T and Crombach, A (2015) Appetitive aggression and adverse childhood experiences shape violent behavior in females formerly associated with combat. Frontiers in Psychology 6, 1756.Google Scholar
Baker, CR and Stith, SM (2008) Factors predicting dating violence perpetration among male and female college students. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma 17, 227–244.Google Scholar
Baron, RA and Richardson, DR (1994) Human Aggression. New York: Pleun.Google Scholar
Borenstein, M, Hedges, LV, Higgins, JPT and Rothstein, HR (2009) Introduction to Meta-Analysis. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Brown, MJ, Perera, RA, Masho, SW, Mezuk, B and Cohen, SA (2015) Adverse childhood experiences and intimate partner aggression in the US: sex differences and similarities in psychosocial mediation. Social Science and Medicine 131, 48–57.Google Scholar
Burnette, ML, Ilgen, M, Frayne, SM, Lucas, E, Mayo, J and Weitlauf, JC (2008) Violence perpetration and childhood abuse among men and women in substance abuse treatment. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment 35, 217–222.Google Scholar
Byrd, PM and Davis, JL (2009) Violent behavior in female inmates: possible predictors. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 24, 379–392.Google Scholar
Campbell, A (2013) The evolutionary psychology of women's aggression. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 368, 20130078.Google Scholar
Chen, PH and White, HR (2004) Gender differences in adolescent and young adult predictors of later intimate partner violence – a prospective study. Violence Against Women 10, 1283–1301.Google Scholar
Chermack, ST, Stoltenberg, SF, Fuller, BE and Blow, FC (2000) Gender differences in the development of substance-related problems: the impact of family history of alcoholism, family history of violence and childhood conduct problems. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 61, 845–852.Google Scholar
Crombach, A and Bambonyé, M (2015) Intergenerational violence in Burundi: experienced childhood maltreatment increases the risk of abusive child rearing and intimate partner violence. European Journal of Psychotraumatology 6, 26995.Google Scholar
Cross, CP and Campbell, A (2011) Women's aggression. Aggression and Violent Behavior 16, 390–398.Google Scholar
Felthous, AR and Yudowitz, B (1977) Approaching a comparative typology of assaultive female offenders. Psychiatry 40, 270–276.Google Scholar
Gass, JD, Stein, DJ, Williams, DR and Seedat, S (2011) Gender differences in risk for intimate partner violence among South African adults. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 26, 2764–2789.Google Scholar
Gillikin, C, Habib, L, Evces, M, Bradley, B, Ressler, KJ and Sanders, J (2016) Trauma exposure and PTSD symptoms associate with violence in inner city civilians. Journal of Psychiatric Research 83, 1–7.Google Scholar
Glasser, M, Kolvin, D, Campbell, D, Glasser, A, Leitch, I and Farrelly, S (2001) Cycle of child sexual abuse: links between being a victim and becoming a perpetrator. British Journal of Psychiatry 179, 482–494.Google Scholar
Godbout, N, Vaillancourt-Morel, MP, Bigras, N, Briere, J, Hebert, M, Runtz, M and Sabourin, S (2017) Intimate partner violence in male survivors of child maltreatment: a meta-analysis. Trauma, Violence & Abuse 20, 99–113.Google Scholar
Goldenson, J, Geffner, R, Foster, SL and Clipson, CR (2007) Female domestic violence offenders: their attachment security, trauma symptoms, and personality organization. Violence and Victims 22, 532–545.Google Scholar
Gómez, AM (2011) Testing the cycle of violence hypothesis: child abuse and adolescent dating violence as predictors of intimate partner violence in young adulthood. Youth and Society 43, 171–192.Google Scholar
Harford, TC, Yi, HY and Grant, BF (2014) Associations between childhood abuse and interpersonal aggression and suicide attempt among U.S. adults in a national study. Child Abuse and Neglect 38, 1389–1398.Google Scholar
Hedges, LV, Tipton, E and Johnson, MC (2010) Robust variance estimation in meta-regression with dependent effect size estimates. Research Synthesis Methods 1, 39–65.Google Scholar
Herrenkohl, RC, Mason, WA, Kosterman, R, Lengua, LJ, Hawkins, JD and Abbott, RD (2004) Pathways from physical childhood abuse to partner violence in young adulthood. Violence and Victims 19, 123–136.Google Scholar
Hoeve, M, Colins, OF, Mulder, EA, Loeber, R, Stams, GJ and Vermeiren, RR (2015) The association between childhood maltreatment, mental health problems, and aggression in justice-involved boys. Aggressive Behavior 41, 488–501.Google Scholar
Hou, J, Yu, L, Fang, XY and Epstein, NB (2016) The intergenerational transmission of domestic violence: the role that gender plays in attribution and consequent intimate partner violence. Journal of Family Studies 22, 121–139.Google Scholar
Howard, R, Karatzias, T, Power, K and Mahoney, A (2017) Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms mediate the relationship between substance misuse and violent offending among female prisoners. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 52, 21–25.Google Scholar
Jung, H, Herrenkohl, TI, Klika, JB, Lee, JO and Brown, EC (2015) Does child maltreatment predict adult crime? Reexamining the question in a prospective study of gender differences, education, and marital status. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 30, 2238–2257.Google Scholar
Jung, H, Herrenkohl, TI, Lee, JO, Hemphill, SA, Heerde, JA and Skinner, ML (2017) Gendered pathways from child abuse to adult crime through internalizing and externalizing behaviors in childhood and adolescence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 32, 2724–2750.Google Scholar
Kerley, KR, Xu, XH, Sirisunyaluck, B and Alley, JM (2010) Exposure to family violence in childhood and intimate partner perpetration or victimization in adulthood: exploring intergenerational transmission in urban Thailand. Journal of Family Violence 25, 337–347.Google Scholar
Kimber, M, Adham, S, Gill, S, McTavish, J and MacMillan, HL (2018) The association between child exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) and perpetration of IPV in adulthood – a systematic review. Child Abuse & Neglect 76, 273–286.Google Scholar
Knox, M, Carey, M and Kim, WJ (2003) Aggression in inpatient adolescents: the effects of gender and depression. Youth & Society 35, 226–242.Google Scholar
Konstantopoulos, S (2011) Fixed effects and variance components estimation in three-level meta-analysis. Research Synthesis Methods 2, 61–76.Google Scholar
Langhinrichsen-Rohling, J, Neidig, P and Thorn, G (1995) Violent marriages: gender differences in levels of current violence and past abuse. Journal of Family Violence 10, 159–176.Google Scholar
Lansford, JE, Miller-Johnson, S, Berlin, LJ, Dodge, KA, Bates, JE and Pettit, GS (2007) Early physical abuse and later violent delinquency: a prospective longitudinal study. Child Maltreatment 12, 233–245.Google Scholar
Leeb, RT, Paulozzi, L, Melanson, C, Simon, T and Arias, I (2008) Child Maltreatment Surveillance: Uniform Definitions for Public Health and Recommended Data Elements. Atlanta: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.Google Scholar
Maas, C, Herrenkohl, TI and Sousa, C (2008) Review of research on child maltreatment and violence in youth. Trauma, Violence & Abuse 9, 56–67.Google Scholar
Mandal, M and Hindin, MJ (2015) Keeping it in the family: intergenerational transmission of violence in Cebu, Philippines. Maternal and Child Health Journal 19, 598–605.Google Scholar
Martin, MS, Eljdupovic, G, McKenzie, K and Colman, I (2015) Risk of violence by inmates with childhood trauma and mental health needs. Law and Human Behavior 39, 614–623.Google Scholar
McCartan, LM and Gunnison, E (2010) Individual and relationship factors that differentiate female offenders with and without a sexual abuse history. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 25, 1449–1469.Google Scholar
Milaniak, I and Widom, CS (2015) Does child abuse and neglect increase risk for perpetration of violence inside and outside the home? Psychological Violence 5, 246–255.Google Scholar
Moher, D, Liberati, A, Tetzlaff, J and Altman, DG and The PRISMA Group (2009) Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA statement. PLoS Medicine 6, e1000097.Google Scholar
Moyano, N and Sierra, JC (2016) Sexual victimisation, sexual cognitions, desire and excitation/inhibition in community Spanish male and female sexual aggressors. Journal of Sexual Aggression 22, 36–51.Google Scholar
Murphy, CM and Blumenthal, DR (2000) The mediating influence of interpersonal problems on the intergenerational transmission of relationship aggression. Personal Relationships 7, 203–218.Google Scholar
Murray-Close, D and Rellini, AH (2012) Cardiovascular reactivity and proactive and reactive relational aggression among women with and without a history of sexual abuse. Biological Psychology 89, 54–62.Google Scholar
Nandi, C, Bambonyé, M, Elbert, T, Weierstall, R, Reichert, M, Zeller, A and Crombach, A (2017) Predicting domestic and community violence by soldiers living in a conflict region. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy 9, 663–671.Google Scholar
Parrott, DJ, Drobes, DJ, Saladin, ME, Coffey, SF and Dansky, BS (2003) Perpetration of partner violence: effects of cocaine and alcohol dependence and posttraumatic stress disorder. Addictive behaviors 28, 1587–1602.Google Scholar
Rasche, K, Dudeck, M, Otte, S, Klingner, S, Vasic, N and Streb, J (2016) Factors influencing the pathway from trauma to aggression: a current review of behavioral studies. Neurology, Psychiatry and Brain Research 22, 75–80.Google Scholar
R Core Team (2016) A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing.Google Scholar
Renner, LM and Slack, KS (2006) Intimate partner violence and child maltreatment: understanding intra- and intergenerational connections. Child Abuse & Neglect 30, 599–617.Google Scholar
Riley, RD (2009) Multivariate meta-analysis: the effect of ignoring within-study correlation. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 172, 789–811.Google Scholar
Rosen, KH, Bartle-Haring, S and Stith, SM (2001) Using Bowen theory to enhance understanding of the intergenerational transmission of dating violence. Journal of Family Issues 22, 124–142.Google Scholar
Saile, R, Ertl, V, Neuner, F and Catani, C (2014) Does war contribute to family violence against children? Findings from a two-generational multi-informant study in Northern Uganda. Child Abuse and Neglect 38, 135–146.Google Scholar
Sansone, RA, Leung, JS and Wiederman, MW (2012) Five forms of childhood trauma: relationships with aggressive behavior in adulthood. Primary Care Companion to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 14, e1–e4.Google Scholar
Scarpa, A, Haden, SC and Abercromby, JM (2010) Pathways linking child physical abuse, depression, and aggressiveness across genders. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma 19, 757–776.Google Scholar
Siegel, JA (2003) The relationship between child sexual abuse and female delinquency and crime: a prospective study. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 40, 71–94.Google Scholar
Simonelli, CJ, Mullis, T, Elliott, AN and Pierce, TW (2002) Abuse by siblings and subsequent experiences of violence within the dating relationship. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 17, 103–121.Google Scholar
Stoltenborgh, M, van Ijzendoorn, MH, Euser, EM and Bakermans-Kranenburg, MJ (2011) A global perspective on child sexual abuse: meta-analysis of prevalence around the world. Child Maltreatment 16, 79–101.Google Scholar
Teague, R, Mazerolle, P, Legosz, M and Sanderson, J (2008) Linking childhood exposure to physical abuse and adult offending: examining mediating factors and gendered relationships. Justice Quarterly 25, 313–348.Google Scholar
Teicher, MH and Vitaliano, GD (2011) Witnessing violence toward siblings: an understudied but potent form of early adversity. PLoS ONE 6, e28852.Google Scholar
Teicher, MH and Samson, JA (2016) Annual research review: enduring neurobiological effects of childhood abuse and neglect. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 57, 241–266.Google Scholar
Teicher, MH, Samson, JA, Polcari, A and McGreenery, CE (2006) Sticks, stones, and hurtful words: relative effects of various forms of childhood maltreatment. American Journal of Psychiatry 163, 993–1000.Google Scholar
Thornberry, TP, Knight, KE and Lovegrove, PJ (2012) Does maltreatment beget maltreatment? A systematic review of the intergenerational literature. Trauma, Violence & Abuse 13, 135–152.Google Scholar
Tielbeek, JJ, Al-Itejawi, Z, Zijlmans, J, Polderman, TJ, Buckholtz, JW and Popma, A (2016) The impact of chronic stress during adolescence on the development of aggressive behavior: a systematic review on the role of the dopaminergic system in rodents. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 91, 187–197.Google Scholar
Topitzes, J, Mersky, JP and Reynolds, AJ (2012) From child maltreatment to violent offending: an examination of mixed-gender and gender-specific models. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 27, 2322–2347.Google Scholar
Trabold, N, Swogger, MT, Walsh, Z and Cerulli, C (2015) Childhood sexual abuse and the perpetration of violence: the moderating role of gender. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma 24, 381–399.Google Scholar
Viechtbauer, W (2005) Bias and efficiency of meta-analytic variance estimators in the random-effects model. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics 30, 261–293.Google Scholar
Viechtbauer, W (2010) Conducting meta-analyses in R with the metafor package. Journal of Statistical Software 36, 1–48.Google Scholar
von Elm, E, Altman, DG, Egger, M, Pocock, SJ, Gøtzsche, PC and Vandenbroucke, JP (2007) STROBE initiative. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies. Lancet 370, 1453–1457.Google Scholar
Watt, ME and Scrandis, DA (2013) Traumatic childhood exposures in the lives of male perpetrators of female intimate partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 28, 2813–2830.Google Scholar
Widom, CS (1989) The cycle of violence. Science 244, 160–166.Google Scholar
Widom, CS, Czaja, S and Dutton, MA (2014) Child abuse and neglect and intimate partner violence victimization and perpetration: a prospective investigation. Child Abuse and Neglect 38, 650–663.Google Scholar
Wilson, HW, Stover, CS and Berkowitz, SJ (2009) Research review: the relationship between childhood violence exposure and juvenile antisocial behavior: a meta-analytic review. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 50, 769–779.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Augsburger et al. supplementary material

Augsburger et al. supplementary material 1

Download Augsburger et al. supplementary material(File)
File 50.4 KB