Children’s exposure to intimate partner violence: Should sexual coercion be considered? (original) (raw)
Related papers
Assessing Children’s Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence
Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 2009
Child exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) is widely acknowledged as a threat to the psychosocial and academic well-being of children. Unfortunately, as reflected in the literature, the specific link between such exposure and childhood outcomes is ambiguous. Based on a review of the literature, this article suggests that this state of affairs is due, in part, to the manner with which exposure to IPV is operationally defined. After reviewing the dominant strategies for operationally defining exposure to IPV and the problems associated with those strategies, this article reports original data contrasting three measures derived from maternal reports, three measures derived from child reports, and the limited concordance among those different indices of exposure to IPV. The implications of these findings for research on child outcomes and the clinical assessment of children who might have been exposed to IPV are discussed.
New Directions for Research on Intimate Partner Violence and Children
European Psychologist, 2007
This article provides an overview to the Special Section in this issue on intimate partner violence (IPV) and children. The argument is made that the field needs to pay more attention to issues of theory, definitions, and methodology. The contributors to the Special Section each make a unique contribution to one of these topics. Their articles document that increased focus on definition and theory, methodologies involving laboratory studies, data collection at multiple time-points, person-oriented approaches, and diverse samples of children exposed to IPV will begin to increase the research sophistication of the field. We argue that the field needs comparability of definitions for the same/similar phenomena under investigation, more sophisticated, testable hypotheses, a better understanding of the short- and long-term consequences of exposure to IPV, and, finally, a more refined picture of the mechanisms by which exposure to IPV affects particular children.
Violence and Victims, 2010
Children exposed to overwhelming and potentially traumatic events early in their lives are considered at-risk for problems in adjustment. Yet it is not known whether it is the age of fi rst exposure (AFE) to violence or the amount of violence that the child witnessed in their lifetime that has the greatest impact on adjustment. For a sample of 190 children ages 6 to 12 exposed to intimate partner violence, their mothers reported that the average length of their abusive relationship was 10 years. The majority of children were fi rst exposed to family violence as infants (64%), with only 12% fi rst exposed when school-aged. Both the AFE and an estimate of the cumulative amount of violence were signifi cantly and negatively related to children's behavioral problems. However, in regression analyses controlling for child sex, ethnicity, age, and family environment variables, cumulative violence exposure accounted for greater variance in adjustment than did AFE. Furthermore, cumulative violence exposure mediated the relationship between AFE and externalizing behavior problems, indicating that the cumulative exposure to IPV outweighed the AFE in its effect on child adjustment.
2011
Children aged 6 to 12 who were exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) within the last year participated in an intervention program found to be successful in reducing their internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. However, little is known about factors that may contribute to this efficacy. Both fixed and modifiable risk factors that predicted change in children’s adjustment after the intervention were identified and tested. There was a significant relationship between the extent of exposure to IPV, gender, change in mothers’ mental health, and change in child adjustment. Among fixed factors, length of exposure to violence was found to moderate the relationship between the amount of the child’s and mother’s participation in the intervention and change in child adjustment, specifically internalizing behavioral problems. Among the modifiable risk factors, change in mother’s 1University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 2Northern Illinois University, Dekalb 3Boston University, Boston,...
Intimate partner violence, coercive control, and child adjustment problems
Journal of interpersonal violence, 2015
Coercive control is a relationship dynamic that is theorized to be key for understanding physical intimate partner violence (IPV). This research examines how coercive control in the context of physical IPV may influence child adjustment. Participants were 107 mothers and their children, aged 7 to 10 years. In each family, mothers reported the occurrence of at least one act of physical IPV in the past 6 months. Mothers reported on physical IPV and coercive control, and mothers and children reported on children's externalizing and internalizing problems. Coercive control in the context of physical IPV related positively with both mothers' and children's reports of child externalizing and internalizing problems, after accounting for the frequency of physical IPV, psychological abuse, and mothers' education. This research suggests that couple relationship dynamics underlying physical IPV are potentially important for understanding how physical IPV leads to child adjustme...
Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence
Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 2000
Prevalence of children's exposure to intimate partner violence has been estimated at 10% to 20% each year. Many children exposed to domestic violence appear to manifest negative effects. Limited research suggests the possibility of long-term effects such as lowered self-esteem and depression. Factors that moderate children's responses to domestic violence include the nature of the discord, the child's age and gender, exposure to other forms of maltreatment, and the presence of factors that buffer the child, such as social support. Mediating factors that may help explain why exposure to domestic violence is harmful to children include disrupted parenting, inadequate coping responses, and development of posttraumatic stress reactions. Group and individual intervention with children who witness partner abuse should be focused around enhancing safety. Additional goals include better understanding of domestic violence and perpetrator responsibility for abuse, improved coping ...
Intimate Partner Physical and Sexual Assault & Child Behavior Problems
MCN, The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing, 2007
Purpose: To describe the type and extent of child behavior problems reported by mothers who report intimate partner physical and sexual assault compared to mothers who reported physical assault only. Study Design and Methods: A descriptive analysis of child behaviors, as measured on the Child Behavior Checklist, for 109 children, aged 18 months to 18 years, who were exposed to intimate partner physical and sexual assault. Multivariate analysis of variance and analysis of variance were used to determine whether children from physically and sexually assaulted mothers differed significantly in scores from children of physically assaulted only mothers. Results: Scores for youth (n = 21) 12 through 18 years of age of physically and sexually assaulted mothers were significantly higher (M = 61.5, SD = 2.4; p = .025) than scores of youth (n = 10) of physically assaulted only mothers (M = 50.8, SD = 3.5) and higher than scores of clinically referred youth in a treatment sample. Child behavior was associated with the type of violence experienced by the mother; older children were at the highest risk for behavior disorders, especially behaviors of depression and anxiety. Clinical Implications: Intimate partner violence assessment of mothers during child health visits is recommended with safety planning and guided referral to community counseling, legal, shelter, and health agencies, along with information on the child behavior problems associated with domestic violence.
2012
Child exposure to IPV Terminology Mothers' versus children's reports Prevalence of child exposure to IPV Different theoretical perspectives on child exposure to IPV and its presumed impact Attachment and emotion regulation Trauma and stress Social learning Social information processing The cognitive-contextual framework Documented consequences of child IPV exposure Meta-analyses: emotions & behavior Physical and psychological problems and use of somatic and psychiatric services Cognitive development and functioning Social adjustment Factors possibly related to the impact and consequences of child IPV exposure Amount of IPV exposure IPV exposure and gender IPV exposure and age IPV exposure, relation to or contact with the perpetrator, and gender considerations IPV exposure and co-occurrence with other adverse experiences A person-oriented approach to different factors related to different patterns of adjustment in children exposed to IPV Resilience in children exposed to IPV Intervention research on children exposed to IPV and their mothers The Kids' Club Project Support Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) Trauma Focused Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) A general outline for treatment of complex trauma including exposure to IPV Support to IPV exposed children in Sweden Section III Evaluation of effects of clinical intervention Statistical significance Practical significance Clinical significance Clinical significance in research on IPV interventions Overall summary The empirical studies The objectives of the thesis Studies I & II Background and material The mothers' support program The children's support program
Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence and the Reported Effects of Psychosocial Interventions
Using a repeated measures design posttraumatic stress (PTS), psychological and behavioral problems significantly decreased following intervention in children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV), with use of traditional group analyses. Analyses using the reliable change index (RCI), however, revealed that few children were improved or recovered, implying that interventions in common use should be evaluated for their significant impact on the individual level in addition to group level statistics. Positive changes in children's behavioral problems were related to the mother's improvement of their own mental health. Direct victimization by the perpetrator was not associated with treatment changes but with higher symptom levels at study entry. Amount of contact with the perpetrator was neither related to symptom load nor to changes following treatment.