Record Details

Women and Family Project, 1991-1996

Harvard Dataverse (Africa Rice Center, Bioversity International, CCAFS, CIAT, IFPRI, IRRI and WorldFish)

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Title Women and Family Project, 1991-1996
 
Identifier https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/XYVNXY
 
Creator McCloskey, Laura
 
Publisher Harvard Dataverse
 
Description This study examines links between psychopathology in children and domestic violence in families. One of the primary goals was to understand how children's problems manifest themselves in homes where domestic violence occurs and to examine whether strong bonds within the family (as demonstrated by attachment to the mother or a sibling) serve to mediate the effects of violence in the home.


Three waves of research were conducted in a large Southwestern city from 1991-1996. The sample includes 365 battered and non-battered women and one of each of their children. There were 183 male and 182 female children interviewed in all. Mothers had an average age of 33 years old and had completed an average of 12 years of education. The sample was ethnically diverse: 53% Euro-Americans, 35% Mexican-American, 6% African American, 4% Native American, and 2% Asian-American/Other. Among fathers in the sample, 54% were biologically related to the children, 27% were step-fathers, and the remaining 19% were legally and biologically unrelated. Families had average of 2.9 children in the home, and children ranged from six to twelve years old.

Women were recruited through battered women's shelters (n=64) and community sources (stores, churches, and social service agencies) where they were screened for the presence of violence in the home (n=102). The control sample (n=199) was recruited by putting up posters and fliers in the community, seeking women with children between six and twelve years old to participate in a "study on the family." Participants were contacted and completed the intake by telephone before interviews were scheduled. Initial interviews lasted two to three hours on average. Hispanic participants were interviewed by Hispanic, Spanish-speaking interviewers, and interviews were conducted in Spanish when preferred.


Subjects were asked about abuse in the home, support, support and closeness within the nuclear family, and general status of mental health among mothers and children. Participants' mental health status was evaluated using measures from this study. Measures used to assess child psychopathology include the Child Behavior Checklist and the Child Assessment Schedule. Maternal psychopathology was measured by the Conflict Tactics Scale and the Brief Symptom Inventory, administered during interview rather than questionnaire format. Information on education, income, employment status and rank, and other demographic information, such as length in current relationship was also collected.


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Subject Social Sciences
 
Type longitudinal, case study/oral history