Abstract
Economically abusive tactics (EAT), including financial exploitation, economic control, and employment sabotage, have been increasingly identified in intimate relationships. Negative outcomes include increased material hardship, increased depression, and co-occurrence with physical and emotional abuse. However, there is no known research on adolescent exposure to EATs, or its relationship with other well-being indicators. This exploratory study examined the extent of witnessing EAT among adolescent girls involved in child welfare, along with relationships between witnessing EAT and exposure to physical violence, risk of mental health challenges, and current financial self-efficacy. Interviews were conducted with 105 girls ages 12–19. Results indicated that nearly half witnessed moderate to high EATs. Rates of EATs were significantly higher among girls who witnessed physical violence. At the bivariate level, witnessing EATs was correlated with increased rates of physical and emotional abuse, physical neglect, and number of types of trauma, as well as higher levels of depression and PTSD and decreased financial self-efficacy. Implications include the need for measurement refinement, screening, prevention, and intervention for child welfare-involved girls, and continued research regarding EAT exposure.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, A. E., Greeson, M. R., Kennedy, A. C., & Tolman, R. M. (2013). The effects of adolescent intimate partner violence on women’s educational attainment and earnings. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 28(17), 3283–3300.
Adams, A. E., Sullivan, C. M., Bybee, D., & Greeson, M. R. (2008). Development of the scale of economic abuse. Violence against Women, 14(5), 563–588.
Anderson, F., & Kras, K. (2007). Revisiting Albert Bandura’s social learning theory to better understand and assist victims of intimate partner violence. Women & Criminal Justice, 17(1), 99–124.
Antle, B., Karam, E., Christensen, D., Barbee, A., & Sar, B. (2011). An evaluation of health relationship education to reduce intimate partner violence. Journal of Family Social Work, 14(5), 387–406.
Bancroft, L. (2004). When dad hurts mom: Helping your children heal the wounds of witnessing abuse. New York: Penguin Group.
Bandura, A. (1973). Aggression: A social learning analysis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191–215.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.
Bandura, A. (2006). Guide for constructing self-efficacy scales. In T. Urdan & F. Pajares (Eds.), Self-efficacy beliefs of adolescents (pp. 307–337). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Bernstein, D. P., & Fink, L. (1998). Childhood Trauma Questionnaire: A retrospective self-report manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
Bernstein, D. P., Stein, J. A., Newcomb, M. D., Walker, E., Pogge, D., Ahluvalia, T., … & Zule, W. (2003). Development and validation of a brief screening version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Child Abuse & Neglect, 27(2), 169–190.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavior sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erblaum Associates.
Cross, T., Mathews, B., Tonmyr, L., Scott, D., & Ouimet, C. (2012). Child welfare policy and practice on children’s exposure to domestic violence. Child Abuse and Neglect, 36, 210–216.
Daro, D., Edleson, J. L., & Pinderhughes, H. (2004). Finding common ground in the study of child maltreatment, youth violence, and adult domestic violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 19(2), 282–298.
Edleson, J., (1999). Problems associated with children’s witnessing of domestic violence. National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women: VAW Applied Research Forum. www.vawnet.org.
Edleson, J., & Beeman, S., (2000). Responding to the co-occurrence of child maltreatment and adult domestic violence in Hennepin County. Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse e-clearing house working paper.
Finkelhor, D., Ormrod, R. K., & Turner, H. A. (2010). Poly-victimization in a national sample of children & youth. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 38(3), 323–330.
Foa, E. B., Johnson, K. M., Feeny, N. C., & Treadwell, K. R. (2001). The Child PTSD Symptom Scale: A preliminary examination of its psychometric properties. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 30(3), 376–384.
Fontes, L. (2005). Child abuse and culture. New York: Guilford Press.
Franklin, C., & Kercher, G. (2012). The intergenerational transmission of Intimate Partner Violence: Differentiating correlates in a random community sample. Journal of Family Violence, 27(1), 187–199.
Gonzalez, A., MacMillan, H., Tanaka, M., Jack, S., & Tonmyr, L. (2014). Subtypes of exposure to intimate partner violence within a Canadian child welfare sample: Associated risks and child maladjustment. Child Abuse and Neglect, 38(1), 1934–1944.
Goodman, L. A., Smyth, K. F., Borges, A. M., & Singer, R. (2009). When crisis collide: How do intimate partner violence and poverty intersect of share women’s mental health and coping. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 10(6), 306–329.
Holmes, M. R. (2013). The sleeper effect of intimate partner violence exposure: Long-term consequences on young children’s aggressive behavior. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 54(9), 986–995.
Huang, J., Nam, Y., Sherraden, M., & Clancy, M. (2015). Financial capability and asset accumulation for children’s education: Evidence from an experiment of child development accounts. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 49(1), 127–155.
Huang, C., Postmus, J., Vikse, J., & Wang, L. (2013). Economic abuse, physical violence, and union formation. Children and Youth Services Review, 35(5), 780–786.
Huang, J., Sherraden, M., Kim, Y., & Clancy, M. (2014). Effects of child development accounts on early social-emotional development: An experimental test. JAMA Pediatrics, 168(3), 265–271.
ISTSS. (2015). International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies: Child PTSD Symptom Scale. Retrieved April 17, 2015 from http://www.istss.org/assessing-trauma/child-ptsd-symptom-scale.aspx.
Josephson, J. (2002). The intersectionality of domestic violence and welfare in the lives of poor women. Journal of Poverty, 6(1), 1–18.
Kitzmann, K., Gaylord, N., Holt, A., & Kenny, E. (2003). Child witnesses to domestic violence: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 71(2), 339–352.
Kolko, D. J., Hurlburt, M. S., Zhang, J., Barth, R., Leslie, L., & Burns, B. (2010). Posttraumatic stress symptoms in children and adolescents referred for child welfare investigation. Child Maltreatment, 15(1), 48–63.
Kovacs, M. (1992). The Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) manual. New York: Multi-Health Systems.
Lee, J., & Mortimer, J. (2009). Family socialization, economic self-efficacy, and the attainment of financial independence in early adulthood. Longitudinal Life Course Studies, 1(1), 45–62.
Nicklas, E., & Mackenzie, M. (2013). Intimate partner violence and risk for child neglect during early childhood in a community sample of fragile families. Journal of Family Violence, 28(1), 17–29.
Postmus, J. L., Chien-Chung, H., & Mathisen-Stylianou, A. (2012). The impact of physical and economic abuse on maternal mental health and parenting. Children and Youth Services Review, 34(1), 1922–1928.
Postmus, J. L., Hetling, A., & Hoge, G. (2015). Evaluating a financial education curriculum as an intervention to improve financial behaviors and financial well-being of survivors of domestic violence: Results from a longitudinal randomized controlled study. The Journal of Consumer Affairs, 49(1), 250–266.
Postmus, J. L., Plummer, S. B., McMahon, S., Murshid, N. S., & Kim, M. S. (2012). Understanding economic abuse in the lives of survivors. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 27(3), 411–430.
Raphael, J. (2000). Saving bernice: Battered women, welfare, and poverty. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press.
Riger, S., Aherns, C., & Blickenstaff, A. (2001). Measuring interference with employment and education reported by women with abusive partners: Preliminary data. In K. O’Leary & R. Mairuo (Eds.), Psychological Abuse in Violent Domestic Relations. New York: Springer.
Sanders, C. K. (2014). Savings for survivors: an Individual Development Account program for survivors of intimate partner violence. Journal of Social Service Research, 40(3), 297–312.
Sanders, C. K., & Schnabel, M. (2006). Organizing for economic empowerment of battered women: Women's savings accounts. Journal of Community Practice, 14(3), 47–68.
Sherraden, M. (1991). Assets and the poor. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Sherraden, M., Clancy, M., Nam, Y., Huang, J., Kim, Y., Beverly, S. G. … Purnell, J. Q. (2015). Universal accounts at birth: Building knowledge to inform policy. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 6(4), 541–564.
Steinberg, A. M., Brymer, M. J., Decker, K. B., & Pynoos, R. S. (2004). The University of California at Los Angeles post-traumatic stress disorder reaction index. Current Psychiatry Reports, 6(1), 96–100.
Stylianou, A. M., Postmus, J. L., & McMahon, S. (2013). Measuring abusive behaviors: is economic abuse a unique form of abuse? Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 28(16), 186–204.
Voth Schrag, R. J. (2015). Economic abuse and later material hardship: Is depression a mediator? Affilia: The Journal of Women and Social Work, 30(3), 341–351.
Weaver, T. L., Sanders, C. K., Campbell, C. L., & Schnabel, M. (2009). Development and preliminary psychometric evaluation of the domestic violence-related financial issues scale (DV-FI). Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24(4), 569–585.
Weldon, S., & Gilchrist, E. (2012). Implicit theories in intimate partner violence offenders. Journal of Family Violence, 27(8), 761–772.
Zarling, A., Taber-Thomas, S., Murray, A., Knuston, J., Lawrence, E., Valles, N, … Bank, L. (2013). Internalizing and externalizing symptoms in young children exposed to intimate partner violence: Examining intervening processes. Journal of Family Psychology, 27(6), 945–955.
Acknowledgments
Funding for this project came from Grant No. 1R49CE001510 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
Ms. Voth Schrag, Dr. Edmond, Dr. Tlapek, and Dr. Auslander declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Voth Schrag, R.J., Edmond, T., Tlapek, S.M. et al. Exposure to Economically Abusive Tactics Among Adolescent Girls in the Child Welfare System. Child Adolesc Soc Work J 34, 127–136 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-016-0450-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-016-0450-8