The moderating role of three-generation households in the intergenerational transmission of violence

Abstract

Background & objective: Considering the increasing trends in multi-generational living arrangements, the current study aimed to test the intergenerational transmission of violence hypothesis in three-generational households. We also examined whether and how living in a threegeneration household would moderate the negative effect of childhood maltreatment on adults' abusive and neglectful parenting behaviors.Method: We conducted secondary data analysis using data from the Wisconsin Families Study. The study sample included 727 low-income parents of young children, most of whom were African American women with, on average, a high school diploma. We estimated a series of ordinary least squares regression models.Results: Our findings indicated that parents who reported a history of childhood abuse, neglect, and witnessing domestic violence showed more frequent use of psychological aggression, physical aggression, and neglectful behavior against their children. Living in a three-generation household played a protective role: The negative effects of a) a history of childhood abuse on the use of neglectful parenting and b) witnessing domestic violence on the use of psychological aggression were reduced for respondents living in a three-generation household (b = -0.11; b = -0.33, ps < 0.05, respectively).Conclusion: The risk of the intergenerational transmission of violence may decrease in threegeneration households where parents of young children can meet their needs by sharing family resources or easing the burden of childcare. Further research is needed to identify and specify factors and contexts associated with the beneficial effects of multi-generational living arrangements.