Factors Associated with Reports of Wife Assault in New Zealand

The frequency of wife assault among mothers of a birth cohort of New Zealand children was studied during the period when the children were from two to seven years of age. Wife assault occurred at a rate of 2% to 3% per year, with approximately 8.5% of wives reporting assault during the six-yearperiod. Rates of assault were related to a series offamily formation variables and social factors including length of marriage, type of marriage, planning of pregnancy, parental age, church attendance, andfamily socioeconomic status. The various factors relating to rates of wife assault were modeled with the use of the proportional-hazards model. This showed substantial differences in rates of assault on the basis of characteristics of the family. Women in the least risk families reported no assaults during the six-year period, while nearly one-third of the women in the high risk families reported assault over the same time span.