TY - SER AU - Berger, Lawrence R. TI - Income, family characteristics, and physical violence toward children SN - 0145-2134 PY - 2005/// KW - ALCOHOL ABUSE KW - FVC KW - FAMILIES KW - MENTAL HEALTH KW - PHYSICAL ABUSE KW - SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS KW - SURVEYS KW - CHILD ABUSE KW - UNITED STATES N1 - Child Abuse and Neglect 29(2) February 2005 : 107-133 N2 - "This paper discusses the ways in which existing microeconomic theories of partner abuse, intra-family bargaining, and distribution of resources within families may contribute to our current understanding of physical child abuse. The empirical implications of this discussion are then tested on data from the 1985 National Family Violence Survey (NFVS) in order to estimate the effects of income, family characteristics, and state characteristics on physical violence toward children. Methodology: The sample consists of 2,760 families with children from the NFVS. Probit and ordered probit models are used to explore relationships between income, family characteristics, state characteristics, and physical violence toward children among single-parent and two-parent families.Results: In both single-parent and two-parent families, depression, maternal alcohol consumption, and history of family violence affect children's probabilities of being abused. Additionally, income is significantly related to violence toward children in single-parent families.Conclusions: These results reinforce earlier findings that demographic characteristics, maternal depression, maternal alcohol use, and intra-family patterns of violence may largely contribute to child abuse. This research also suggests that income may play a substantially more important role in regard to parental violence in single-parent families than in two-parent families."--JOURNAL ABSTRACT UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2004.02.006 ER -