Experiences of Maltreatment in Early Childhood Foreshadow Intimate Partner Violence in Young Adulthood: A Cascading Process Model Spanning 20 Years of Life

Numerous studies have supported the positive associations between experiences of early childhood maltreatment (ECM) and subsequent victimization of intimate partner violence (IPV). However, long-term longitudinal research from childhood through adulthood still remains relatively sparse to elucidate the mechanisms that account for the downstream negative consequences of ECM for later close relationship well-being. Guided by the Sequential Violence Model and the Social Dysfunction Framework of ECM, this study leveraged five-wave longitudinal data from early childhood through young adulthood spanning 20 years of life (N = 1032, M_age = 2.98 years old, SD = 0.19, 58.04% females at the initial wave) to examine how experiences of ECM (year 3 and 5) might predict victimization of IPV in young adulthood (year 22) through individuals' disrupted social skills in middle childhood (year 9) as well as elevated behavioral maladaptation in adolescence (year 15). Results, most importantly, revealed two cascading pathways, such that experiences of ECM were positively associated with disrupted social skills in middle childhood, which in turn, predicted elevated levels of behavioral maladaptation in adolescence (especially increased externalizing maladaptation), which ultimately linked with heightened victimization of IPV in young adulthood. Our findings shed light on the developmental cascades linking experiences of ECM with later victimization of IPV. The identified process mechanisms might be important targets for the design of interventions aimed at preventing the transmission of early traumas in families of origin to interpersonal traumas in later romantic relationships.