Posted 02/05/2007

USC study finds family violence more likely in urban households

Violent disagreements occur in 10.3 percent of American homes – with urban children more at risk than those living in rural areas – according to a study by University of South Carolina researchers.

Another 31.5 percent of children live in homes where disagreements involve heated arguments and shouting, behavior children may consider violent.

The study’s results, published in the February issue of the journal Pediatrics, found a higher prevalence of violent disagreements among families living in urban areas (10.7 percent) than those living in rural counties (8.3 percent - 9.9 percent).

The researchers defined “violent disagreements” as those with hitting or throwing, even rarely, and “heated disagreements” as those with heated arguments and shouting but without hitting or throwing, said Dr. Jan Probst, director of the S.C. Rural Health Research Center at the Arnold School of Public Health.

“This study was conducted to help us develop national estimates of the prevalence of violent disagreements in the homes of children in the United States,” said Probst, who conducted the study with lead author Dr. Charity Moore, former deputy director of the S.C. Rural Health Research Center and a current  faculty member at the University of North Carolina.

“We also wanted to study rural areas because many women living in rural communities often lack access to domestic-violence services,” she said. “This increases the likelihood that rural children will have repeated exposures to violence.”

The study, one of the first to assess violence in the homes of rural children, also reported that violent disagreements occur more often in black households than Hispanic and white households.

Researchers used data from the 2003 National Survey of Children’s Health.

Among the study’s other findings:

  •  Parents living in rural counties were less likely to report violent disagreements than those in urban areas.

  •  Parental stress was the factor most closely associated with violent disagreements. Parents who reported high stress levels were three times more likely to report violent disagreements than parents reporting less stress.

  •  Children between the ages of 12 and 17 were more likely to live in homes with violent or heated disagreements than children ages five and under.

Probst said the study is significant because witnessing domestic violence increases a child’s chance of emotional or behavioral problems during childhood. It also raises the risk of the child being in an abusive relationship in adulthood.

“Two of every five children live in households where disagreements can lead to behavior that is frankly violent or that children interpret as violent,” Probst said.

“Given how common these behaviors are, physicians, healthcare professionals and others should be knowledgeable about community services and resources that assist families in dealing with stress and violence,” she said.