Transgenerational Transmission of Violence among Parents of Preschool Children in Croatia

Abstract

Th e aim of this study was to determine whether there is a transgenerational transmission of violence within the family on a sample of parents of preschool children in Croatia, and to identify the factors that increase the likelihood of child abuse. Th e Child Abuse Questionnaire was self-administered to the sample of 118 parents of preschool children (91 mothers and 27 fathers) during February 2013. Th ere were 7.7% of mothers and 3.8% of fathers who answered that they slapped their child, while 15.4% of the fathers answered that they even hit their child with a fi st. We found the subjects who were psychologically and/or physically abused in childhood by their parents to have a higher probability of following the exact model of violence on their children. So, children suff er physical violence in larger families from parents who, in turn, suff ered physical violence in childhood from their fathers, controlled for all other factors in the model. Children suff er psychological violence from parents who experienced psychological violence from their own parents during childhood, controlled for all other factors in the model. We also found the higher number of family members in a household to be a risk factor for abuse. Th e study has confi rmed that additional interventions are necessary to break the model of transmitting violence from generation to generation.

Keywords

• Child abuse
• Physical abuse
• Child
• Child, preschool
• Violence – prevention and control
• Croatia