Intimate partner violence: What are the impacts on children?

Abstract

Evidence suggests that children who live with intimate partner violence between their parents or caregivers are at risk for psychological and behavioural problems. This paper presents an overview of the substantial body of literature now existing in this field. It reports on the prevalence of intimate partner abuse in developed countries and the potentially large population of children who experience conflict of this nature. Rates of co-occurrence of intimate partner violence and directly targeted physical child abuse are reviewed, as well as possible reasons for this overlap. Impacts of living with intimate partner violence during childhood are summarised. Heightened prevalence of posttraumatic symptomatology, mood difficulties, and behavioural problems have been reported in this population of children, and there are indications that difficulties may persist. Possible mediators and mechanisms of these associations are reviewed. The difficulty of separating the effects of directly targeted child assault from those of living with violence is discussed, as is the apparent similarity in outcomes associated with each type of violence. The paper is concluded with comments on implications and recommendations for future research.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Leila Greenfield, Lillian De Bortoli and Suzanne Pollard. This research was supported by the Australian Childhood Foundation.