Examining the role of safe, stable, and nurturing relationships in the intergenerational continuity of child maltreatment--Introduction to the special issue.

This special issue is the result of a successful collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and researchers leading four important longitudinal studies on intergenerational patterns of violence: The Environmental Risk Longitudinal TwinStudy (E-Risk) [1]; theFamilyTransitionsProject (FTP) [2]; the Lehigh Longitudinal Study [3]; and the Rochester Youth Development Study [4]. The papers that follow investigate the role of safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and social contexts in the lives of children and their caregivers, provide insight into complex relationship factors that influence the intergenerational continuity of child maltreatment, and point to a number of important avenues to improve the lives of children and families by preventing violence and promoting health and well-being. Child maltreatment is a significant public health problem that requires a multifaceted approach to prevention. It is estimated that one out of every ten children in the United States experiences one or more forms of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse or neglect by a parent or other caregiver at some point during their lifetime [5e7]. In 2011, social service workers identified 681,000 children1 in the United States as substantiated victims of maltreatment. This equates to an overall victimization rate of 9.1 per 1,000 children in the U.S. population [8]. It is well-established that experiencing child maltreatment is associated with a variety of negative physical, emotional, and psychological outcomes, including subsequent harsh and/or neglectful parenting in adulthood [9e13]. Yet, it is also clear that not all maltreated children grow up to become maltreating parents [14,15]. Thus, identifying factors that distinguish families in which the cycle of violence is maintained from families in which it is interrupted is critical for violence prevention and optimal child development. The CDC has identified the promotion of safe, stable, nurturing relationships (SSNRs) as a key strategy for the public health approach to child maltreatment prevention [16]. The three dimensions of SSNRs (i.e., safety, stability, and nurturance) each represent significant aspects of the social and physical environments that