Witnessing domestic abuse in childhood as an independent risk factor for depressive symptoms in young adulthood

Abstract

Objective

This study addresses the relationship between retrospective reports of witnessing domestic abuse in childhood and levels of depressive symptoms in young adulthood. We examine whether the association between having witnessed violence in childhood and depression is independent of having been the direct target of sexual and/or physical abuse, as well as other characteristics and experiences linked with family violence.

Methods

We used two waves of data collected from a sample of 1,175 young adults (ages 20–24) in Miami, Florida. Retrospective self-reports of witnessed abuse and measures of family context and adversities were obtained in 1998–2000. The respondents’ level of depressive symptoms was assessed 2 years later in 2000–2002.

Results

Multivariate results indicate that frequently having witnessed domestic abuse predicts higher levels of depressive symptoms in young adulthood, independently of other risk factors for depression and family violence.

Conclusion

Results provide preliminary evidence that frequent exposure to domestic abuse is an independent risk factor for depressive symptoms in young adulthood.

Practice implications

Results support a renewed call for (a) increased attention to depression among children exposed to adults’ interpersonal violence, and (b) greater efforts to bridge prevention and intervention efforts regarding domestic violence and child maltreatment.

Introduction

Prevalence estimates indicate that between 16 and 30% of all children in the United States witness domestic abuse (Osofsky, 2003). A growing body of research suggests that exposure to domestic abuse in childhood is a risk factor for depression in adolescence and adulthood (Fantuzzo and Mohr, 1999, Feerick and Haugaard, 1999, Fergusson and Horwood, 1998, Forrstrom-Cohen and Rosenbaum, 1985, Johnson et al., 2002). Much of the previous empirical work in this area, however, has not accounted for other childhood risk factors that are likely to have co-occurred with witnessing domestic abuse (Horwitz et al., 2001, Kruttschnitt et al., 1994, Langenkamp and Frisco, 2008, Schilling et al., 2007) including an individual's history of having been the direct target of abuse, family structure characteristics, poverty, frequent home and school moves, or parental unemployment (for exceptions, see: Carlson, 1991, Feerick and Haugaard, 1999, Herrenkohl and Herrenkohl, 2007, Herrenkohl et al., 2008, O’Keefe, 1996, Spaccarelli et al., 2005).

An additional limitation of existing research linking exposure to domestic abuse in childhood to depression in young adulthood is the use of selective samples (e.g., clinical samples or archival case data) that might not generalize to community populations (Edleson, 1999, Fantuzzo and Mohr, 1999, Fergusson and Horwood, 1998, Kolbo et al., 1996, Oliver et al., 2006, Wolfe et al., 2003). Furthermore, previous work generally does not account for frequency of exposure to domestic abuse, thereby not allowing for the examination of a potential dose/response relationship between the severity of exposure to domestic abuse and later depression.

This study aims to address these limitations by analyzing data from a community sample of young adults. We examine whether retrospective reports of witnessing abuse at varying levels of frequency is associated with depressive symptoms in young adulthood when controls for demographic characteristics, family structure, adverse family experiences, and being the direct target of physical and/or sexual abuse are accounted for.