Research Article

Prevalence of childhood abuse in mothers taking part in a study of parenting their own children

  1. Helga Sneddon1,*,
  2. Dorota Iwaniec1,
  3. Moira C. Stewart2

Article first published online: 14 JUL 2009

DOI: 10.1002/car.1078

Issue

Child Abuse Review

Child Abuse Review

Volume 19, Issue 1, pages 39–55, January/February 2010

Additional Information

How to Cite

Sneddon, H., Iwaniec, D. and Stewart, M. C. (2010), Prevalence of childhood abuse in mothers taking part in a study of parenting their own children. Child Abuse Rev., 19: 39–55. doi: 10.1002/car.1078

Author Information

  1. 1

    Institute of Child Care Research, Queen's University, Belfast, UK

  2. 2

    Department of Child Health, Queen'sUniversity, Belfast, UK

*Institute of Child Care Research, School of Sociology, Social Policy & Social Work, Queen's University, 6 College Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland BT7 1LP, UK

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 25 JAN 2010
  2. Article first published online: 14 JUL 2009
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 21 JAN 2009

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Keywords:

  • mother;
  • child;
  • maltreatment;
  • prevalence

Abstract

This paper describes the incidence of maltreatment histories in a community sample of mothers of one-year-old infants in Northern Ireland. The occurrence of five subsets of childhood maltreatment is examined: emotional abuse, emotional neglect, physical abuse, physical neglect and sexual abuse. Of the 201 women who completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, 70 mothers (35%) reported that they had experienced one or more types of maltreatment during childhood. Forty-eight mothers (24%) gave a history of being emotionally abused, 43 (21%) of emotional neglect, 27 (13%) of physical abuse, 20 (10%) of sexual abuse and 19 (10%) of physical neglect. Physical abuse was the only type of maltreatment which showed an association with maternal socio-economic status, with a higher incidence reported amongst Occupational Classes 4 and 5 (lower supervisory and technical occupations and semi-routine and routine groups). More than half of those with a history of abuse experienced more than one type of maltreatment (42 mothers or 60% of those reporting maltreatment). Differences in rates of incidence to more recent studies on younger adults are discussed, as well as implications for prevention and intervention. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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