Abstract
A number of studies have uncovered gender differences in the effects of exposure to family violence on children. However, little is known about how these differences come about, nor what their long-term implications are for development. The purpose of this paper is to review the existing research on gender differences in child witnesses to violence in the home, and to offer a conceptualization of the different developmental pathways to maladjustment for boys and girls. Attention to gender will contribute to our understanding of the effects of interparental violence on children. In addition, sensitivity to sex-roles will inform the development of intervention efforts that will address the particular appraisals, coping strategies, and adjustment problems of boys and girls.
