Retrospective reports of interparental abuse by adult children from intactfamilies

Previous investigations of the effects of interparental abuse on adult chil dren's self-esteem and closeness to their parents have included participant s from both intact and divorced homes. The present study examined retrospec tive reports of adult children from intact families regarding the effects o f both the verbal and physical abuse tactics they remembered occurring betw een each of their parents. These participants reported relatively lower lev els of interparental physical and verbal abuse tactics than participants in previous studies had reported. Whereas abuse tactics were found to negativ ely influence reports of current closeness with parents, fathers' verbal ab use tactics were positively related to closeness with mothers.