1. INTRODUCTION METHOD RESULTS CONCLUSIONS
Family violence as predictor of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems and substance abuse among spanish adolescents
Fernández-González, Liria; Izaguirre, Ainhoa; & Calvete, Esther
UNIVERSIDAD DE DEUSTO
INTRODUCTION
OBJECTIVE
Family violence (FV) has long been associated with children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms as well as substance abuse in adolescence.
However, no study has simultaneously examined the influence of exposure to FV on both types of problems.
To examine the role of exposure to FV (witnessing intimate partner violence against the mother and/or direct victimization by mother/father) as a predictor of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems and substance abuse in Spanish adolescents.
METHOD
1.- Design and instruments
2.- Participants
TIME 1
Baseline
TIME 2
6 months later
613 participants
6 public and private high schools of Guipuzkoa
T1: N = 845; T2: N= (72,5 %)
52,8 % girls
47,2 % boys
Age ( years ):
M = 15,89 (SD = 0,84)
Family violence1
Internalizing/externalizing behavior problems2
Substance abuse3
1 Exposure to Violence (EVS; Orue & Calvete, 2010).
2 Youth Self Report (YSR; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001).
3 Adolescent Drug Abuse Inventory (ADAI; Calvete & Estevez, 2008).
3.- Statistical analyses
Path analysis was used to test the hypotheses of the study via maximum likelihood with LISREL 9.2.
Missing values were imputed using the expectation- maximization (EM) imputation algorithm with SPSS.
RESULTS
CONCLUSIONS T2
Depression
Rule breaking
Aggressive behavior
Witnessing
Physical victimization
Psychological victimization T1
Drug abuse
.54**
.48**
.51**
.52**
.07*
.12**
.10*
S-B χ2 (20, N = 613) = 114, p < .001, RMSEA = .08 (90% CI =. 065 to .09), CFI = .99, NNFI = .97, SRMR= .054
Although cross-sectional results indicate that all forms of exposure to FV are associated with internalizing and externalizing problems, longitudinal results indicate that only being the victim of psychological abuse increases symptoms of depression, aggressive and rule-breaking behavior, and drug abuse over time. 
A possible explanation for this finding may account on the low prevalence rates of witnessing IPV against the mother and direct physical victimization by parents (11.8% and 3.3%, respectively).
IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERVENTION
First, early signs of maladjustment need to be taken into consideration by professionals or people in charge of the adolescents.
Second, more intensive interventions should be addressed in order to reduce the burden of suffering of adolescents exposed to family violence.
Figure 1. Exposure to violence and psychological problems
References
Achenbach, T.M., & Rescorla, L.A. (2001). Manual for the ASEBA school-age forms and profiles. Burlington: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth & Families.
Calvete, E., & Estevez, A. (2009). Substance use in adolescents: The role of stress, impulsivity, and schemas related to lack of limits. Adicciones, 21(1),
Orue, I., & Calvete, E. (2010). Development and validation of a questionnaire to measure exposure to violence in childhood and adolescence. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 10,