Intergenerational Transmission of Family Violence and Depressive Symptoms in Urban Thailand.

Objective: This study examines linkages between childhood exposure to family violence (FV) and adulthood depressive symptoms, directly and indirectly, through adulthood experience of FV among ever‐married Thai women. Background: A growing body of research has shown that childhood experience of FV is not only intergenerationally transmitted but also significantly associated with negative mental health outcomes in adulthood. However, prior research is limited to Western contexts, with little known about how intergenerational pathways of FV operate outside of the West. Method: Data come from a probability sample of ever‐married women living in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2000 (N = 811). The dependent variable is self‐reported depressive symptoms measured by the 20‐item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and the key independent variables are direct and indirect exposures to FV in childhood. The path models are estimated to incorporate the mediating variables of adulthood experience of FV via the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales. Results: Our path analyses reveal that the intergenerational transfer of FV occurs, regardless of the form of violence experienced by ever‐married Thai women during childhood or adulthood. Moreover, although experiencing FV during childhood tends to exert direct effects on depressive symptoms in adulthood, witnessing FV during childhood affects depressive symptoms in adulthood only indirectly. Conclusion: Taken together, our findings demonstrate that childhood exposure to FV elicits long‐term detrimental effects on women's adulthood experience of FV and mental health in urban Thailand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]