Explanting women's double jeopardy: factors that mediate the association between harsh treatment as a child and violence by a husband

Past research has shown that women who experienced harsh parenting as children are at risk for assault from their spouse during adulthood. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate the extent to which this association is mediated by the victim's perceptions of helplessness, commitment to traditional gender beliefs, level of education, and involvement in aggressive/deviant behavior. The sample consisted of 204 recently divorced mothers. The results indicated that the relationship between exposure to harsh parenting and subsequent abuse by a husband is mediated by a woman's involvement in aggressive/deviant behavior. This finding is consonant with an assortative mating explanation: Women subjected to abusive parenting tend to develop a hostile, rebellious orientation, and are likely to affiliate with and marry men with similar characteristics. These men, in turn, tend to engage in a variety of deviant behaviors, including violence toward their wives.