The reason why violence takes different forms in different families is not clearly understood in terms of predictive individual and family features. This study attempted to identify significant clinical variables that distinguished father-daughter incest families from child physical abuse families in an United States Air Force sample. Air Force Family Advocacy Officers performed a retrospective review of 135 substantiated military child maltreatment cases by answering a questionnaire adapted for this study to reflect the point-of-view of the clinician from five well known self-report inventories. The most pronounced difference between the two maltreatment groups was the higher level of overt conflict demonstrated by the child physical abuse families compared to the father-daughter incest families. Child physical abuse families were also found to be more controlling than their counterparts. On the other hand, fathers who sexually molested their daughters were rated as significantly more paranoid-like and socially introverted plus were involved in less satisfying marriages when compared to physically abusive fathers. No significant differences between maltreatment groups were discovered in terms of expressiveness in the family, alcohol abuse by the father, or self-esteem of the wives. Implications for treatment and prevention programs as well as further research are discussed
