Consequences of Childhood Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence in Chicago, Illinois, 1994-2000

The nine data files used in this study were drawn from multiple imputed iterations using the Expectation-Maximization (E.M.) algorithm and data augmentation to address missing data. They included data from the first two waves of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) with 4,955 records for each wave. The data included information for subjects aged 0 to 18 and covered the years 1994 to 2000.

The researcher used Straus and Gelles' Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) (see PROJECT ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS (PHDCN): CONFLICT TACTICS SCALE FOR PARTNER AND SPOUSE, WAVE 1, 1994-1997 [ICPSR 13583]) for the child's mother and her partner to measure domestic violence exposure. The researcher measured child outcomes using several scales. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) (see PROJECT ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS (PHDCN): WECHSLER INTELLIGENCE SCALE FOR CHILDREN-REVISED, WAVE 1, 1994-1997 [ICPSR 13604], and PROJECT ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS (PHDCN): WECHSLER INTELLIGENCE SCALE FOR CHILDREN-REVISED, WAVE 2, 1997-2000 [ICPSR 13664]) and the child's grades were used to measure the impact of exposure on the child's cognitive functioning. Achenbach's Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) (see PROJECT ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS (PHDCN): CHILD BEHAVIOR CHECKLIST, WAVE 1, 1994-1997 (ICPSR 13582) and PROJECT ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS (PHDCN): CHILD BEHAVIOR CHECKLIST, WAVE 2, 1997-2000 [ICPSR 13611]) and questions about child truancy, grade repetition, and drug use were used to assess the behavioral impact of exposure to domestic violence. Anxiety was measured by the anxiety sub-scale of the CBCL. The parent-child relationship was measured by selected questions from the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) scale (see PROJECT ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS (PHDCN): HOME OBSERVATION FOR MEASUREMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT, WAVE 1, 1994-1997 [ICPSR 13594]).

For this study, the researcher defined domestic violence as the use of physical force (for example, forcible restraint, slapping, shoving, throwing objects at, hitting, kicking, biting, burning, sexual assault, or murder) or threat of the same against an intimate partner (someone with whom the perpetrator was involved in a romantic or sexual relationship for at least a month). Additionally, exposure to domestic violence was defined as cohabitation with a primary caregiver who was a perpetrator or victim of domestic violence. The definition of childhood included aged 0 to 18.