| Family violence affects many children and previous research on child maltreatment and exposure to intimate partner/domestic violence has yielded varied results regarding the effects of family violence across children's age, gender, and type of family violence. This dissertation study relies on previous family violence literature to explore the effects of physical family violence on children's behavior problems and also introduces a previously understudied population of children who have been exposed to a sibling's physical abuse.;This study utilizes data from four waves of the Illinois Families Study combined with administrative data from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. The study sample consists of 2,402 children ages 3--18 years old. The study assesses the effects of three forms of physical family violence (allegations of child physical abuse, exposure to physical intimate partner/domestic violence, and exposure to a sibling's physical abuse) on children's behavior problems across developmental age and gender. This study also highlights the level of co-occurrence among various forms of family violence and assesses the cumulative effect of physical family violence on children's behavior problems.;Results indicate that children of all ages are negatively affected by some form of physical family violence but the effects of family violence vary by a child's age and gender. Introducing the unique group of children exposed to a sibling's physical abuse broadens the definition of family violence and the findings indicate that children are also negatively affected by this form of family violence. The study findings reflect the importance of incorporating multiple experiences with various forms of family violence into a single study and offer implications to improve social welfare practice, policies, and future research. |
