Elizabeth Smailes

Intergenerational transmission of partner violence: a 20-year prospective study.

An unselected sample of 543 children was followed over 20 years to test the independent effects of parenting, exposure to domestic violence between parents (ETDV), maltreatment, adolescent disruptive behavior disorders, and emerging adult substance abuse disorders (SUDs) on the risk of violence to and from an adult partner. Conduct disorder (CD) was the strongest risk for perpetrating partner violence for both sexes, followed by ETDV, and power assertive punishment. The effect of child abuse was attributable to these 3 risks. ETDV conferred the greatest risk of receiving partner violence; CD increased the odds of receiving partner violence but did not mediate this effect. Child physical abuse and CD in adolescence were strong independent risks for injury to a partner. SUD mediated the effect of adolescent CD on injury to a partner but not on injury by a partner. Prevention implications are highlighted.

Sexual trajectories of abused and neglected youths

ABSTRACT. The study objective was to examine whether childhood abuse or neglect is associated with the age of onset of puberty and sexual and romantic behavior. A cohort of children (the Children in the Community study) was randomly selected and studied prospectively from childhood to adulthood. A sample of 816 youths were interviewed in their homes at a mean age of 14, 16, and 22 years in 1983, from 1985 to 1986, and from 1991 to 1994. The outcome measures included age of menarche, signs of male puberty, first being in love, dating, sexual intercourse, and pregnancy reported by youths. Child abuse and neglect were measured by official records and youth reports. A history of two or more incidents of sexual abuse was significantly associated with early puberty and early pregnancy after gender, class, race, paternal absence, and mothers age at the birth of the study child were controlled statistically. Public education regarding risk for premature sexual behavior among youths who have experienced sexual abuse is warranted. Efforts to prevent teenage pregnancy should include monitoring and educating sexually abused children as they enter puberty.

Construction and validation of a quality of life instrument for young adults

Assessment of quality of life (QOL) in young adults has become an increasingly important field of research as information on the QOL of children and adults accumulates. The purpose of this study is to report on the development of the Young Adult Quality Of Life (YAQOL) instrument, a measure of QOL for young adults aged 18–25. The YAQOL, which is comprised of 14 multi-item scales that assess physical health and aspects of psychological well-being, social relationships, role function, and environmental context, was administered to a general population sample of 751 young adults. Scale structure was confirmed by item-internal consistency, item discriminant validity, and inter-scale correlations. Reliability coefficients ranged from 0.88 to 0.63 across scales (mean = 0.73). Eight YAQOL scales discriminated clearly between young adults with and without chronic physical conditions, 12 scales discriminated between young adults with and without personality disorder, and negative associations were demonstrated between YAQOL scale scores and psychiatric disorder symptoms. Demographic differences in the YAQOL scales were consistent with theoretical expectations and previous empirical work. Overall, findings support the reliability and utility of the YAQOL as a measure of QOL in young adults in the general population. Additional psychometric properties will continue to be evaluated as more data become available.