ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews some general issues concerning how one conceptualizes and identifies families at risk for adolescent maltreatment. The child variables include personality and behavior problems, some of which have existed for a long time and others that arise to trigger a specific incident of abuse. The parent and overall family interaction variables include personality and marital problems. The high-risk families were not significantly different from the low-risk families on the basis of their socioeconomic characteristics, but they were significantly different in terms of family composition. Interparental Conflict Scale (IPC) reveals the amount of marital and familial conflict that the adolescent perceives existing in his/her family in terms of finances, spouse's personal characteristics, child-rearing practices, and joint family activities. The chapter discusses the factors involved in adolescent maltreatment and explores the differences between the adolescents' and the parents' perspectives on it.
