Child maltreatment and adulthood violence: The role of attachment and drug abuse in a sample of low-income, minority women

One of the most concerning consequences of child maltreatment is an increased risk for subsequent violence. Research has suggested that both childhood sexual and physical abuse increase the risk for being revictimized and for perpetrating violence against children or intimate partners in adulthood. The purpose of this study was to examine factors that might influence or account for the association between child maltreatment and later violence. In particular, this study examined the potential role of attachment relationships in childhood and adulthood in moderating and mediating the effects of child maltreatment on subsequent violence and explored the contribution of drug abuse in understanding the association between child maltreatment and later violence.;Participants included 59 women in residential treatment for severe cocaine abuse and a comparison group of 56 women with no history of cocaine abuse, recruited from a large urban hospital serving a low-income, minority population. All women included in the study participated in a three-hour interview about psychiatric and drug problems, experiences with violence as a child or adult, and current and past relationships.;Results indicated that both attachment and drug abuse were important factors in understanding the association between child maltreatment and later violence although their roles differed depending on the outcomes. Specifically, while childhood attachment was a significant predictor of several forms of violence, it was only a moderator of the effects of childhood sexual abuse on adult sexual victimization for women with no history of drug abuse, suggesting that the role of attachment depended on history of drug abuse. Adult attachment was not a significant mediator of the effects of child maltreatment on violence, although it was associated with several violence outcomes. Drug abuse was found to be a significant predictor of violence in the whole sample, which both accounted for and moderated the association between child maltreatment and adult violence. These results have several implications for policy and practice with respect to child maltreatment and interpersonal violence.