Predictors of Preschoolers’ Appraisals of Conflict in Families Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Factors that may contribute to preschool-aged children’s appraisals of their parent’s violent conflicts in families experiencing recent intimate partner violence (IPV) were evaluated for 116 mother–child dyads. Mothers and children were interviewed using empirically-validated measures to assess level of violence, maternal and child mental health, and children’s appraisals of conflict. Results suggest that preschool-aged children are able to meaningfully respond to statements about their parents’ conflicts. Both mothers’ and children’s reports of violence were significantly associated with children’s appraisals of Threat, but not with appraisals of Self-blame. Girls reported significantly higher levels of Self-blame than did boys. Children’s cognitive appraisals of Threat and Self-blame did not vary by age or ethnicity. These findings suggest that interventions designed for young children might specifically target their cognitive appraisals to help them regulate their feelings of being threatened and to provide for their safety.

Keywords

cognitive appraisals intimate partner violence preschool children

Conflict between adult partners has been a widely studied element of the family environment, though over time, the understanding of its impact on child development has become increasingly refined (e.g., El-Sheikh, Cummings, Kouros, Elmore-Staton, & Buckhalt, 2008; Straus, Hamby, Boney-McCoy, & Sugarman, 1996). Although witnessing any level of marital conflict can be distressing, many children each year witness severe intimate partner violence (IPV)—that is, conflicts that escalate to physical and/or sexual violence. Recent estimates indicate that 15.5 million American children live in a home where IPV has occurred within the past year (McDonald, Jouriles, Ramisetty-Mikler, Caetano, & Green, 2006). Young children may be at greater risk than older children of exhibiting the negative effects associated with exposure to IPV because they are more likely to be present when it occurs (Fantuzzo & Fusco, 2007; Graham-Bermann & Hughes, 2003). Families experiencing IPV are especially harsh environments, with research finding a number of detrimental outcomes for children, including emotional and behavioral problems, traumatic stress symptoms, cognitive deficits, and poor social competence (e.g., Graham-Bermann, Howell, Miller, Kwek & Lilly, 2010; Grych, Jouriles, Swank, McDonald, & Norwood, 2000). Studies of both sheltered and nonsheltered American children indicate that 40%-60% of 8 to 12 year-old children witnessing IPV show clinically diagnosable levels of behavioral and emotional problems (e.g. aggression, anxiety; Graham-Bermann, Gruber, Howell, & Girz, 2009; Grych, Jouriles, et al., 2000).

Although there are several factors that can contribute to the development of psychopathology in children witnessing IPV, a unique line of research has focused on the contribution of children’s cognitive appraisals of the conflict they witness. The hypothesis for such research has been that children actively work to create meaningful explanations of events and consequently to respond to their parents’ conflict. This in turn is related to their adjustment (Grych & Fincham, 1990). This cognitive process of comprehension and response is also referred to as cognitive appraisal. Grych, Seid, and Fincham (1992) developed the Children’s Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale (CPIC) specifically to assess children’s cognitive appraisals and evaluate children’s reports of their parents’ conflict along three primary dimensions: Conflict Properties (e.g., frequency, intensity), Threat (whether children report being afraid), and Self-blame (to what extent children blame themselves for their parents’ conflicts). Recent research has shown that appraisals of Threat and Self-blame may be especially important to examine as they have been consistently linked to current child internalizing symptoms, and to externalizing symptoms in some studies (Ablow, Measelle, Cowan, & Cowan, 2009; McDonald & Grych, 2006).

Although researchers have explored the relationship between children’s appraisals and current or future emotional and behavioral problems, as above, the current study is unique in its examination of potential predictors of these cognitive appraisals. That is, this study seeks to explore how a variety of child, maternal and interpersonal factors may influence the development of children’s cognitive appraisals of conflict.

Potential Predictors of Child Perceptions of Threat and Self-Blame

Gender

In studies of children’s appraisals of marital conflict, gender differences are typically not found (Grych et al., 1992; McDonald & Grych, 2006). However, some research has shown slight differences in the cognitive appraisals of boys and girls. For example, Kerig, Fedorowicz, Brown, Patenaude, and Warren (1999) found that although there were no mean-level differences in appraisals between boys and girls, significant correlations indicated that as exposure to IPV increased, boys showed increased levels of Threat, whereas girls showed increased levels of Self-blame, as assessed using the CPIC.

Age

The majority of studies examining appraisals of conflict have addressed school-aged children (Grych et al., 1992). For example, a study by Jouriles, Spiller, Stephens, McDonald, and Swank (2000), found 8 to 9 year-old children reported more Self-blame and more Threat than did children between the ages of 10 and 12. Despite the fact that cognitive appraisals have been evaluated in children as young as 7 (McDonald & Grych, 2006), preschool-aged populations (4-6) have not been thoroughly examined to date. It is essential to evaluate cognitive appraisals in young children, as recent research indicates that children begin to show perceptual biases for threat in infancy (LoBue, Rakison, & DeLoache, 2010).

Level of violence

Researchers have noted that children’s cognitive appraisals of conflict might be drastically altered by the presence of severe violence (Fosco, DeBoard, & Grych, 2007). Indeed, it was found that children living in violent homes had higher levels of perceived Threat, which can be both adaptive (in that children are rightly concerned about their own and others’ safety) and maladaptive (in that this heightened level of psychological and physiological stress could result in detrimental outcomes over time; Fincham & Osborne, 1993; Fosco et al., 2007). Cognitive attributions of Self-blame might also have a different pattern for children living in violent homes. Fosco et al. (2007) note that children from violent homes may feel less to blame for causing the violence, but still feel greater Self-blame for not preventing it.

Maternal depression and traumatic stress

IPV can cause traumatic stress symptoms, depression, and PTSD in mothers, especially as they are at risk for injury during violent conflict (Fantuzzo & Fusco, 2007; Lilly & Graham-Bermann, 2009). Children of depressed or traumatized mothers may be at increased risk for a variety of adjustment problems, especially symptoms of depression and traumatic stress (Graham-Bermann, et al., 2009; Ostrowski, Christopher, & Delahanty, 2007). Although this link has been well-established, the research on cognitive appraisals has not yet explored how maternal mental health may impact the cognitive appraisals of young children.

Current Study

Research on children’s appraisals of conflict has indicated a number of adverse effects stemming from children’s negative cognitions, but there are many gaps. First, few studies have addressed the presence and development of these cognitions in younger children. In addition, relatively little research has explored what could contribute to the development and maintenance of these cognitions. Third, studies have focused primarily on marital conflict, which may be limited to verbal disagreement, rather than on families with both physical violence and psychological maltreatment. The goal of the present study is to expand this body of research by evaluating children who have experienced more extreme levels of violence, by gaining insight into a new, younger age group, and by exploring how individual factors may contribute to preschoolers’ cognitive appraisals of violence.

Hypotheses

The current study has three primary aims: (a) to determine whether preschool-aged children are able to report on their parents’ conflicts, (b) to examine what types of cognitive appraisals are related to one another and how they vary across a number of individual characteristics, and (c) to determine how maternal and child mental health contribute to children’s appraisals. It is hypothesized that (a) preschool-aged children are capable of reliably reporting on IPV; (b) their cognitive appraisals of Conflict Properties, Self-blame, and Threat will be interrelated, will not vary by gender or ethnicity, but may vary by age, with younger children reporting higher levels of Conflict Properties, Threat, and Self-blame than older children; and (c) higher levels of violence in the home and lower child and maternal mental health will uniquely contribute to children’s maladaptive attributions about their parents’ conflict after controlling for relevant demographic variables, such as age and gender.

Method

Procedures

Mothers and their preschool-aged children were recruited using advertisements in a variety of cooperating public agencies, such as county legal and mental health services, shelters, and stores. The advertisements included a toll-free number and email address. After contacting the coordinator and completing a brief phone screen that determined if the mother had experienced severe IPV in the past 2 years and had a 4- to 6-year-old child living in the home, and if interested, mothers were scheduled for an interview. They were paid US$25 and told that their child would receive a toy worth approximately US$4. Each mother completed an IRB-approved consent to participate, consent for her child to participate, and a form giving permission for the project coordinator to contact her for future interviews. The mothers’ interviews took approximately 1.5-2 hr and the children’s interviews lasted approximately 30-45 min. Precautions were taken to ensure the safety and comfort of the study participants and interviewers, such as completing interviews in a local shelter or community center. The interviewers were clinical graduate students and advanced undergraduates who were trained in structured interview techniques and received certification in research ethics.

Analytic Protocol

Hypotheses were tested using SPSS 18.0 statistical software, with post-hoc power analyses completed in nQuery Advisor 7.0. The relationships between types of cognitive appraisals were examined using Pearson’s correlations. Differences between ethnic groups and gender were examined using and independent samples t-tests. Differences in cognitive appraisals by age group were examined using one-way ANOVAs. Finally, the extent to which the level of violence in the home and lower child and maternal mental health uniquely contributed to children’s maladaptive cognitive appraisals was assessed using a hierarchical linear regression model where demographic variables were controlled for in step one, and child and maternal reports of conflict and mental health were entered in step two. To examine the extent to which the results of the current study may be influenced by statistical error, post-hoc power analyses were conducted for each hypothesis.

Participants

The study included 116 mothers and their preschool-aged children exposed to severe IPV in the past 2 years. Children ranged in age from 4 to 6 years old (M = 4.96, SD = .87). There were 60 boys. Forty percent of the children were European American, 36% were African American, 20% were Biracial, and 4% were Hispanic American. Mothers ranged in age from 21 to 54 (M = 31.92, SD = 7.25). Forty-nine percent of the mothers were European American, 38% were African American, 6% were Biracial, 5% were Hispanic American, and 2% were Asian American. The mothers had a wide range of educational attainment, with 59% completing at least some college. Thirty-nine percent of the women were currently employed. Forty-three percent identified as single and 24% reported that they were currently separated from their spouse. Sixteen percent of the women were married, 10% were divorced, and 7% were living with a partner. Average income was US$1,396 per month (SD = US$1,559).

Measures

Demographics

Mothers completed a questionnaire to gather basic background information such as her age and age of her child, income, ethnicity, educational attainment, housing history, and relationship status.

Intimate partner violence

Family violence was assessed with the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2; Straus et al., 1996). The CTS2 is a 78-item instrument measuring the severity and frequency of psychological aggression, physical assault and injury, sexual coercion, and negotiation over the past year in a couple’s relationship. Because only the mothers participated in the interviews, a total of 39 maternal vicitimization questions were administered. For each item, mothers were asked to estimate the frequency with which their partner had used different violence tactics toward them within the past year. The CTS2 has been proven reliable, with subscales ranging from α = .79 to α = .95 (Straus et al., 1996). The reliability for the CTS Total Scale in the present study was (α) .90 with subscales of Negotiation (α = .56), Psychological Aggression (α = .83), Physical Assault (α = .91), Sexual Coercion (α = .88), and Injury (α = .62).

Children’s appraisals of interparental conflict

This was assessed using the Children’s Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale (CPIC; Grych et al., 1992), a 48-item measure of school-aged children’s constructs that has three subscales: Conflict Properties, Self-blame, and Threat. The Conflict Properties subscale includes: Frequency (e.g., “I never see my parents arguing or disagreeing”), Intensity (e.g., “My parents get really mad when they argue”), and Resolution (e.g., “When my parents argue, they usually make up right away”). The Self-blame subscale includes Content (e.g., “My parents’ arguments are usually about me”) and Self-blame (e.g., “It’s usually my fault when my parents argue.”). The Threat subscale includes Threat (e.g., “I get scared when my parents argue”) and Coping Efficacy (e.g., “I don’t know what to do when my parents have arguments.”) For each item, children can choose whether it is true (2), sometimes true (1) or not true (0) of their families. This measure has been used in a number of studies with test–retest reliability ranging from 0.68 to 0.76 (Grych et al., 1992). For the current study, total scale reliability was (α) .80. Subscale reliabilities were as follows: Conflict Properties (α = .82), Threat (α = .62), and Self-blame (α = .63). One item from the Threat subscale was removed due to its poor contribution to the overall scale.

Maternal depressed mood

Mothers were asked to complete the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977), a 20 item self-report scale designed to assess levels of depressed mood in adults in the general population. Items assess various symptoms of depression, including depressed affect, positive affect, somatic complaints, and interpersonal attributes. Each item can be rated as 1-never, 2-sometimes, 3-often, 4-almost all the time/always. The CES-D’s reliability and validity have been established in numerous samples, with an internal reliability of α = .85 and test–retest reliability of .54 (Radloff, 1977; Roberts, Andrews, Lewinsohn, & Hops, 1990). It is also highly correlated with other self-report measures of depressed mood and with clinical ratings of depression (Radloff, 1977). The measure has been used successfully in studies of abused women (Lilly, Valdez & Graham-Bermann, 2011). Reliability for the present study was (α) = .80.

Posttraumatic stress symptoms

This was assessed with the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS; Foa, 1995). The PDS is a 49-item measure designed to assist with the detection and diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults. First, mothers complete a brief checklist of lifetime traumas that they may have experienced and then were asked to describe their worst incident of traumatic violence with a partner. Mothers were then asked about possible symptoms that may have occurred after experiencing a traumatic event. These symptoms correspond to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD. PDS items measure traumatic reexperiencing, avoidance/numbing, and physiological reactivity. Mothers reported on the frequency of each symptom and the degree to which it interfered with their life in the past month: not at all/only once (0), once a week or less/once in a while (1), 2-4 times a week/half the time (2), and 5 or more times a week/almost always (3). In the current study, reliability for the Total PDS score was (α) .87 with (α) .80 for the PDS Reexperiencing Scale, (α) .74 for the PDS Avoidance Scale and (α) .73 for PDS Arousal.

Child posttraumatic symptoms

This was assessed using the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Semi-Structured Interview and Observational Record for Infants and Young Children (Scheeringa & Zeanah, 1994). This 31-item measure is completed by the mothers and designed to identify the presence/absence of PTSD symptoms in children along four dimensions: Reexperiencing, Avoidance, Arousal, and a list of experimental associated symptoms. If mothers confirmed that they had witnessed a behavior in their children after the child had witnessed IPV, they were asked to provide explicit examples. Following the interviews, the responses were evaluated by a clinical psychologist and trained researchers to determine whether or not the mother’s report met the threshold for a trauma symptom. Each symptom was rated as 0 (not present), 1 (somewhat/a little), or 2 (present a lot of the time). Total scale reliability for the present study was (α) .81.

Results

Ability to Report

The first aim of this analysis was to determine whether preschool-aged children are able to report on their parents’ violent conflicts. To assess this, data were gathered from three sources: clinician rating of understanding, child verbal ability, and completion of the scale. First, children who were given a rating of “no understanding” by the clinical interviewer and children with an extremely low verbal ability, as assessed by a Vocabulary subscale of a verbal ability test were dropped from the analyses (n = 6). Then, children who were unable to or who refused to complete at least 40% of the CPIC were dropped (n = 12). This cut-off ensured that the children who remained in the sample had answered enough questions to contribute at least three items to each CPIC subscale. When these criteria were considered, 18 children in all were dropped from analyses, resulting in a final sample size of (n = 98). Thus, the hypothesis that preschool-aged children can reliably report on their parents’ conflicts was partially confirmed, with 84% of the sample rating as being able to understand the questions and respond meaningfully enough to merit inclusion. Comparative analyses were completed to ensure that there were no significant differences between dropped participants and the remainder of the sample. Children who were dropped from the analyses were not significantly different from children who were not dropped on any variable. The extent of missing data for the remainder of the sample was within acceptable limits.

On a scale of 0 to 38 where 0 represents no conflict and 38 represents high conflict, children reported an average of 14 on the Conflict Properties Scale (M = 14.2, SD = 7.9). On a scale of 0 to 24 where 0 represents no Threat appraisals and 22 represents high levels of Threat appraisals, children reported an average score of 10 (SD = 4.5). On a scale of 0 to 18, where 0 represents no Self-blame appraisals and 18 represents high levels of Self-blame appraisals, children reported an average of 13 (SD = 3.6).

On average, mothers reported 176.2 (SD = 128.3) violent conflict tactics in the past year ranging from verbal abuse to physical violence and sexual coercion. Specifically, mothers reported that in the past year they had experienced an average of 50 acts of physical violence (SD = 54.9), 88 instances of psychological aggression (SD = 51.2), 24 acts of sexual violence (SD = 35.4), and had an average of 14 injuries as a result of physical violence (SD = 16.7). Mothers’ reports of conflict tactics did not vary by child gender, child age, level of maternal education or ethnicity and were not related to household income. However, younger mothers reported higher levels of overall violence (r = −.31, p < .01). Mothers also reported high injury rates, with 82% of the sample reporting at least one violence-related injury in the past year. Mothers reported high levels of depressed mood according to cut-off scores on the CES-D (M = 31.9, SD = 9.8) and trauma symptoms (M = 21.2, SD = 11.5). On a scale of 0 to 42, mothers reported an average of 12 for level of trauma symptoms displayed by their children (SD = 6.7), with approximately one third of the children meeting diagnostic criteria for PTSD.

Interrelationship of Cognitive Appraisals

It was hypothesized that there would be a significant relationship among the three primary types of cognitive appraisals (Conflict Properties, Threat, and Self-blame). The Conflict Properties Scale was significantly correlated with the Threat Scale (r = .46, p < .01; See Table 1). Post-hoc power analyses indicated that the power for this relationship analysis was high, with probability of Type II error being less than 1%. Self-blame was not significantly related to other types of appraisals.

Table 1.

Correlation Matrix of Variables in Regression Analyses

Variable	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1. Child age	1.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2. Mother’s report of violence	−0.09	1.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
3. Children’s report of conflict	0.10	−0.04	1.0	—	—	—	—	—
4. Child traumatic stress symptoms	−0.07	0.36***	−0.11	1.0	—	—	—	—
5. Maternal depressed mood	−0.09	0.35***	0.01	0.42***	1.0	—	—	—
6. Maternal traumatic stress symptoms	−0.05	0.44***	−0.01	0.49***	0.73***	1.0	—	—
7. Child-reported Threat	−0.14	0.18*	0.46***	−0.04	−0.04	−0.10	1.0	—
8. Child-reported Self-blame	0.16	−0.13	−0.02	0.02	−0.11	−0.06	−0.04	1.0

p < .10. **p < .05. ***p < .01.

Demographic Differences in Appraisals

It was hypothesized that children’s appraisals would not vary by gender or ethnicity, but would vary by age such that younger children report significantly more feelings of Threat and Self-blame than older children. To assess whether children’s appraisals of interparental conflict varied by gender, age, or ethnicity, t-tests and ANOVAs were conducted. There was a significant gender difference in appraisals of Self-blame, such that girls reported higher levels of Self-blame than did boys (t = −2.01, p < .05). Post-hoc power analyses indicated that power was 61% with an effect size of .39. No gender differences were found for appraisals of Threat or reports of Conflict Properties. No significant differences were found either by age or minority status in the report of Conflict Properties, Threat, or Self-blame. Thus, this hypothesis was partially confirmed.

Predictors of Children’s Appraisals

Finally, it was hypothesized that level of violence in the home and child and maternal mental health and coping would uniquely contribute to children’s attributions of Threat and Self-blame after controlling for demographic variables, that is, age and gender. Ethnicity was not included in the regression given that appraisals did not vary by minority status in previous analyses, and the sample size of the current study limits the number of variables that can be entered. The hierarchical regression for children’s attributions of Threat was not significant at step one, indicating that child age and gender did not significantly contribute to children’s appraisals of threat (Table 2). It was, however, highly significant at Step 2 (F = 6.29, p < .01, R² = .33), with both maternal and child reports of conflict significantly predicting children’s attributions of Threat after controlling for demographic factors (mother’s report of violence, β = .01, p < .01 and children’s reports of violence, β = .27, p<.01; see Table 2). The analysis revealed no significant contributions of child and maternal mental health to children’s attributions of Threat (see Table 2). Post-hoc power analyses indicated a very low probability of Type-II error (<1%).

Table 2.

Coefficients in the Hierarchical Linear Regression Model Predicting to Children’s Appraisals of Self-Blame and Threat Using Child Sex, Age, Violence Reports, and Measures of Maternal Depression and Traumatic Stress

	Self-blame				Threat
Variable	β	SE β	R ²	F	β	SE β	R ²	F
Step 1			.06**	3.16**			.03	1.35
Child sex	1.37	0.71			−0.26	0.91
Child age	0.65	0.43			−0.89	0.55
Step 2			.10	1.56			.33***	6.32***
Child sex	1.71**	0.76			−0.74	0.83
Child age	0.61	0.44			−0.95**	0.48
Mother’s report of violence	−0.02	0.00			0.01***	0.00
Children’s report of conflict	−0.01	0.05			0.27***	0.05
Child traumatic stress symptoms	0.10	0.07			−0.01	0.07
Maternal depressed mood	−0.03	0.06			0.01	0.06
Maternal traumatic stress symptoms	−0.00	0.05			−0.09*	0.05

p < .10. **p < .05. ***p < .01.

The hierarchical linear regression for children’s attributions of Self-blame produced a significant model at Step 1 (F = 3.17, p < .05, R² = .06), indicating that child gender and age together significantly contribute to children’s appraisals of Self-blame. However, neither child gender nor age significantly contributed at an individual level to children’s appraisals of Self-blame, and the overall variance explained was low. After entering child and maternal health and reports of conflict in Step 2, the model for Self-blame was no longer significant. Thus, the hypothesis that level of violence in the home and child and maternal mental health would uniquely contribute to children’s attributions of Threat and Self-blame was partially supported for children’s reports of Threat and not supported for children’s reports of Self-blame.

Discussion

Findings from this study support the hypothesis that most preschool-aged children were able to meaningfully respond to questions about their parents’ conflicts. Despite the fact that these children completed a measure that was originally designed for use with older children, our findings provide valuable information about cognitive appraisals for this age group. Namely, these data showed a significant relationship between Threat and children’s reports of conflict, replicating past studies, which have also found moderate correlation coefficients with the strongest relationship between Conflict Properties and Threat (Grych et al., 1992; McDonald & Grych, 2006). The more children observe intimate partner conflict, the more likely they are to feel threatened themselves. Given that a number of studies have reported that children present in the home are witness to about 80% of IPV when it occurs in the family (Graham-Bermann and Hughes, 2003; Fantuzzo & Fusco, 2007) and that young children are disproportionately exposed to IPV, we can speculate that the amount of threat that young children experience could be similarly greater.

However, neither was a relationship between Self-blame and children’s reports of conflict found, nor was the relationship between Self-blame and Threat. Though the relationships between Self-blame and the other subscales typically reached significance in other, larger studies of older children, these associations were small in magnitude (Grych et al., 1992; McDonald & Grych, 2006). The reasons that these associations were not found are unclear, especially as children in the study reported relatively high levels of Self-blame as assessed by subscale means. One possibility employs Grych and Fincham’s (1990) initial theory defining Threat as a primary appraisal process and Self-blame as a secondary appraisal process. Perhaps young children make primary appraisals of Threat that are sufficiently related to their experience of violence, but their ability to make secondary, more complex appraisals is as of yet unrefined. It is also possible that the sample size for the current study was not sufficient to fully elucidate the relationship of children’s appraisals Self-blame to other factors, as small sample size can contribute to Type II error, making it more difficult to detect relationships between examined variables.

There were no significant differences found in appraisals of Threat or Self-blame by age group. Similar findings were also reported in a study of 5 and 6 year olds that showed no differences in their level of Threat (Ablow et al., 2009). Likewise, the lack of significant differences in appraisals of Threat between girls and boys confirms findings of other studies (e.g., McDonald, Jouriles, Tart, & Minze, 2009). However, there was a significant gender difference on appraisals of Self-blame such that girls reported higher levels of Self-blame than did boys. This gender difference has been found inconsistently across other studies, with some studies finding no difference (e.g., Ablow et. al., 2009; Grych, Fincham, Jouriles, & McDonald, 2000) and other studies reporting significantly higher levels of Self-blame in girls (Kerig et al., 1999). The findings of the current study reinforce the findings of Kerig et al. (1999) but are also consistent with developmental research that indicates that at this age, girls experience higher levels of guilt than do boys (Kochanska, De Vet, Goldman, Murray, & Putman, 2008). As boys’ and girls’ reported levels of guilt purportedly differentiate around the age of 3 (Kochanska et al., 2008), it is possible that the inclusion of 4-year-olds in the current study illuminated early differences in appraisals of Self-blame that some studies of older children may not have evidenced. To the best or our knowledge, no other studies on cognitive appraisals have included children as young as 4, thus not tapping into early gender differences in Self-blame.

No significant differences in appraisals of violence were found between minority and nonminority children. Very little research has examined the impact of ethnicity on children’s cognitive appraisals, and what research exists does not provide strong confirmation of any impact of ethnicity on children’s cognitive appraisals of their parents’ conflicts (Gerard, Buehler, Franck, & Anderson, 2005). Although the lack of significant differences in cognitive appraisals between minority and nonminority children expand our understanding of the impact of ethnicity on children’s appraisals of violent conflict, the findings may be limited by the fact that the sample size of each ethnic group in the sample did not allow for a more thorough examination of differences between or within specific ethnic groups.

Finally, hierarchical regression analyses were undertaken to assess the third hypothesis, examining the various contributions of individual and contextual factors on the attributions of Threat and Self-blame. The variability of child appraisals of Threat was not significantly predicted by demographic factors alone. Rather, children’s appraisals of Threat were significantly explained by the second step of the model, with the level of violence as reported by both the mother and by the child being significant predictors after controlling for child sex and age. This is in keeping with the theoretical perspective that Threat appraisals are a basic response to the presence of conflict in the home (Grych & Fincham, 1990).

It is notable that although child and maternal health were significantly related, such that poorer maternal health was related to poorer child mental health (Table 1), neither significantly predicted to children’s Threat appraisals. Research on threat attention bias in maltreated children indicates that children with PTSD show a higher avoidance of threat-related stimuli than do children exposed to trauma who did not qualify for a PTSD diagnosis (Pine et al., 2005). It may be that children who are suffering from high levels of traumatic stress symptoms may therefore also be less likely to report appraisals of threat as a means of avoidance.

The model for Self-blame was significant at Step 1 (F = 3.15, p < .05), indicating that child age and gender together contributed significantly to children’s appraisals of Self-blame, though the variance explained was poor (6%). However, the model did not reach significance once child and maternal reports of conflict and mental health were entered in Step 2 (Table 2). Given the lack of relationship between Self-blame and these constructs (Table 1), it was not surprising that the full model did not achieve significance. Given the above results, it may seem that young children cannot properly assess Self-blame given their developmental status. However, if this were true, it seems likely that children would have answered these questions less reliably and would have reported overall lower Self-blame. It may be that young children living in severely violent homes are as yet unable to recognize the impact of contextual factors, and thus express high levels of self-blame regardless of level of violence or mental health problems. A final possibility is that all of the children in the sample were exposed to high levels of violence, creating little variability in child appraisals, and potentially leading to few children endorsing low levels of blame. Perhaps if the sample included nonviolent families, a stronger relationship between level of conflict and appraisals of Self-blame would have emerged.

Limitations

Though this study provides unique information on children’s appraisal of conflict, there are certain limitations that need to be addressed. The current sample includes only children in families that have experienced severe levels of IPV. Thus, it is entirely possible that the cognitive appraisals for children experiencing lower levels of conflict would be different. Additionally, the study included only families from the Midwest, and other races/ethnicities aside from European and African Americans were not well represented. The present study was therefore only able to examine minority versus nonminority children. Thus, the present study was unable to explore a diverse range of ethnicities and findings may not hold true for specific racial/ethnic groups or for other geographic areas.

Furthermore, some children experienced fatigue in answering the 48-question CPIC inventory. Although this measure was originally designed for use with older children, a shorter version has since been developed for use with younger populations (CPIC-Y, McDonald & Grych, 2006). However, the current study began prior to the release of this scale. It is likely that a briefer questionnaire may have decreased child resistance and thus decreased missing data. Despite the obvious advantages of using a shorter version of this questionnaire, using the long version did not produce significant problems with reliability or validity of the results and the majority of children were able to comprehend and complete this task.

Future Directions

Because the majority of the children who witness violence in the home are under the age of 6 (Fantuzzo & Fusco, 2007), and because less is known about their adaptation and coping, it seems essential to continue research on young children exposed to IPV. In addition, the appraisals of preschool children might be tracked over time to explore how they change and develop, as well as what contributes to them. This may help to create an understanding of which early cognitions predict to later maladaptive cognitions that have been associated with poor child adjustment. Hopefully, an increased understanding of young children’s cognitive appraisals will better equip researchers to examine how maladaptive appraisals can be addressed in treatment.

Clinical Implications

First and foremost, it is important to consider that children as young as 4 years old seem to be able to report on and to make some appraisal of the meaning of the violence they witness. Because 4- to 5-year-old children express more Threat than do 6-year-old children, there may be an increased need to attend to the cognitive appraisals of very young children to better help them regulate their feelings of being threatened and to provide for their safety.

Ultimately, the findings of the present study are highly consistent with previous research on children’s cognitive appraisals of conflict, but expand our understanding of children’s in significant ways. First, these results indicate that children as young as four may be able to accurately respond to questions about their parents’ violent conflicts. Second, it appears that the level of violence in the home contributes more strongly to children’s attributions of Threat than do either maternal or child mental health. The lack of relationship between contextual variables and Self-blame is an unusual finding given research in older populations. It may be the case that although children are able to understand and respond to questions about their parents’ conflict, they have not yet begun to meaningfully integrate these appraisals into their daily lives.

Footnotes

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The authors received financial support for the current research from the James A. Knight Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and Rackham Graduate School.

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