Children’s exposure to intimate partner violence: an overview

ABSTRACT

Children’s exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) is associated with significant emotional impairment and other harmful effects. It is increasingly recognized as a type of child maltreatment, with outcomes similar to other types of abuse and neglect. Children can experience harm from exposure to IPV, even when not directly involved in, or a witness to, the violence between caregivers. This review, based on a synthesis of best available evidence, addresses the epidemiology of children’s exposure to IPV, including prevalence, risk and protective factors, and associated impairment, as well as strategies for identification, and interventions for prevention of exposure and impairment. Strategies for ensuring children’s safety are also discussed. The article concludes with guidance specific to mental health clinicians.

KEYWORDS:

• Children’s exposure to intimate partner violence
• children’s witnessing domestic violence
• child maltreatment
• evidence-based review

Acknowledgements

There were no specific grants that supported this research. Drs. H. L. MacMillan and C. N. Wathen receive funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Gender and Health (IGH) and Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addictions (INMHA) to the PreVAiL Research Network (A CIHR Center for Research Development in Gender, Mental Health and Violence across the Lifespan, www.PreVAiLResearch.ca). H. L. MacMillan holds the Chedoke Health Chair in Child Psychiatry at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no disclosures to submit.

Notes

Notes

1 Note, however, that a review by Kitzmann et al. (2003) found no difference in adjustment problems between children with exposure to physical violence as well as exposure to IPV and children with only exposure to IPV.

2 An effect size, the standardized mean difference between two groups, is a way of quantifying the magnitude of an effect, and, unlike significance level, is not influenced by sample size. Cohen’s (1988) d statistic is a measure of mean difference between groups that is often used in meta-analyses. Cohen (1988) hesitantly defined effect sizes as small (d = 0.2–0.3), medium (d = 0.5), or large (d = 0.8–1.0).