FREQUENCY OF PARENTAL VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN IN CHINESE FAMILIES -IMPACT OF AGE AND GENDER

The present study examines the impact of child and parent gender on pa rental violence across age span of children and their parents in Hong Kong Chinese families. A randomly selected community sample of 1,019 h ouseholds was surveyed. Results indicate that, in general, boys experi ence more frequent parental violence than girls and mothers engage in more violent behaviors against their children than fathers. Parental v iolence shows a curvilinear pattern with age of children, peaking at a ge 8 for boys and age 3 for girls. There is a pattern of declining fre quency of parental violence as parental age increases across child gen der. Fathers exhibit an inverted ''U'' pattern of violent behavior aga inst their children, with a peak around age 31-40, while mothers have a steadily declining trend until age 46. Separate parental violence in dices are constructed for boys and girls.