Quality of Father-Child Interactions and Child Abuse Predictors in Wife Batterers.

This study investigated the quality of parenting among men who abused their wives. Data were collected from 92 men referred to battering intervention programs about variables that predicted child maltreatment, including batterers' age, history of maltreatment during childhood, exposure to the abuse of their mother, substance abuse, child's age and gender, number of children, and frequency and severity of spouse abuse. The parenting skills of the men were assessed and rated as violent, nonviolent, or positive. In addition, the wives of 16 of the men were also asked to assess parenting and women battering. Severity and frequency of spouse abuse and substance abuse were found to be significantly related to child maltreatment. Men's ratings of their abusive behavior were lower than reported by women. 2 figures and 30 tables.