Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Child Abuse & Neglect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/chiabuneg Research article The relationship between childhood adversity, attachment, and internalizing behaviors in a diversion program for child-to-mother violence Eva Nowakowski-Sims ⁎ ,1 , Amanda Rowe Barry University, United States ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Child-to-parent violence Childhood adversity Child-to-mother attachment Depression Anxiety ABSTRACT Very little research has been conducted on the role of childhood adversity in child-to-parent violence. Childhood adversity places youth at risk for internalizing behaviors (i.e. anxiety and depression) and externalizing behaviors (i.e. aggression). The purpose of this study was to ex- plore the relationships between childhood adversity, child–mother attachment, and internalizing behaviors among a sample of 80 youth who have been arrested for domestic battery against a mother. This study reported high prevalence rates of childhood adversity (mean score of 10 out of 17 events). Multiple regression analysis indicated that insecure attachment predicted depression among females (F(6, 73) = 4.87, p < 0.001), and previous experience with child maltreatment and/or witness to parental violence predicted anxiety among females (F(6, 73) = 3.08, p < 0.01). This study is the first study to explore childhood adversity among a sample of per- petrators of child-to-mother violence and notably adds to our understanding of the multiple pathways connecting childhood adversity, child–mother attachment, and depression and anxiety among a difficult to treat youth population. 1. Introduction Family violence has a deep and lasting effect on families, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Many forces interact to produce violence between family members and much research has been dedicated to understanding how children are impacted by violence in the home, yet youth arrested for domestic battery are an understudied portion of that group. Child-to-parent violence (CPV) is one group of youth who find themselves in a juvenile justice setting after an arrest for domestic battery and is defined as any harmful act by an adolescent against a parent (Coogan, 2011; Cottrell, 2003). Estimates of CPV range from 5% to 22% (Kennedy, Edmonds, Dann, & Burnett, 2010; Margolin & Baucom, 2014; Walsh & Krienert, 2007), where mothers are overwhelmingly the targets of vio- lence (Condry & Miles, 2014; Ibabe, Jaureguizar, & Bentler, 2013; Nowakowski & Mattern, 2014; Ulman & Straus, 2003). Some researchers have indicated that untreated childhood adversity is the driving force behind a youth’s violent behavior. Ford, Chapman, Connor, and Cruise (2012) found that aggressive acts differ in their function among youth who have experienced child- hood adversity i.e., aggression is more likely to be a reactive attempt to cope or protect self or others than a proactive attempt to exert power and control. Research has suggested that perpetrators of CPV are victims, who have experienced multiple incidents of in- terpersonal childhood adversity (Nowakowski-Sims, in press), mostly child abuse (Calvete, Gámez-Guadix, & Orue, 2014; Ibabe & Jaureguizar, 2010; Pratchett & Yehuda, 2011; Ulman & Straus, 2003) and witness to parental violence (Boxer, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.08.015 Received 26 December 2016; Received in revised form 6 April 2017; Accepted 10 August 2017 ⁎ Corresponding author at: School of Social Work at Barry University, 11300 NE 2nd Ave., Miami Shores, FL 33161, United States. 1 Office location: 9123 N Military Trail, #206, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410, United States. E-mail address: Enowakowski-sims@barry.edu (E. Nowakowski-Sims). Child Abuse & Neglect 72 (2017) 266–275 0145-2134/ © 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd. MARK