While once thought to be oblivious to parental violence, child witnesses to parental violence are now considered to be at risk as victims of both chronic trauma and psychological maltreatment. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among childrens' parental violence history, cognitive skills, processing of social information, trauma reactions, and behavioral, school, and social functioning. Interviewees included mothers (n=68) and children aged 5-13 years divided approximately equally by gender and age group (5-7, 8-10, 11-13 years). Children fell into two parental violence witnessing groups: witnesses to parental violence residing in Battered Women's Shelters who were screened to eliminate personally abused children; and, children residing at home who had been screened for witnessing violence and abuse but had been exposed to a typical range of parental verbal conflict. Mothers and children completed several types of instruments. The results replicated previous studies in suggesting that child witnesses to parental violence experience greater deficits in functioning than nonwitnesses. They also suggest that while child witnesses were not showing deficits in processing nonsocial information, they were showing some difficulties in processing social information, being more likely to expect aggressive content. (BF)