Internalizing and externalizing symptoms in young children exposed to intimate partner violence: Examining intervening processes.

Abstract Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a pervasive and significant public health problem. The phenomenon is linked to adverse health effects for women and children. Mothers of young children in Malawi can be particularly at risk because of gender-based power imbalances. The objectives of this study were to examine the prevalence and the risk factors of IPV perpetrated by the current or recent partner against mothers of children under five years of age in rural Malawi.Methods: A multistage cross-sectional study design was used. A sample of 538 mothers of young children was randomly selected from postnatal clinics in Dowa district. The WHO's Violence against women instrument was used to collect data. Logistic regressions were used to determine risk factors that were associated with IPV against mothers. Results: The prevalence of IPV controlling behavior, psychological, physical, and sexual violence were 74.7%, 49.4%, 43.7% and 73.2% respectively. In multivariate analyses, mothers whose partners had extra marital affairs were more likely to experience controlling behavior (AOR: 4.97, 95% CI: 2.59-8.55, P<0.001), psychological (AOR: 2.14, 95% CI: 1.486-3.472, P<0.001) and physical (AOR: 2.29, 95% CI: 1.48-3.94, P<0.001) violence than mothers whose partners did not have extra marital affairs. Mothers whose partners consume alcohol were more likely to experience sexual violence (AOR: 2.00, 95% CI: 1.17-3.41, P<0.001) than mothers whose partners did not drink. Finally, mothers who spent more than 30 minutes drawing water were at greater risk of experiencing IPV than mothers who spent less than 30 minutes.Conclusion: This study found a significantly higher prevalence of IPV against mothers in rural Malawi compared to the national prevalence. Programs aimed at reducing the partners’ potential risk behaviors identified in this study are recommended. Public health programs that support increased household access to safe water are also recommended to help mitigate IPV against mothers.

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Multi-contextual Influences on Resilience in Young Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence

Contexts for Young Child Flourishing ◽

10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190237790.003.0013 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 246-264

Author(s):

Laura E. Miller-Graff

Keyword(s):

Intimate Partner Violence ◽

Young Children ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Contextual Influences

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Supporting mothering: Service providers' perspectives of mothers and young children affected by intimate partner violence

Research in Nursing & Health ◽

10.1002/nur.20428 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 34 (3) ◽

pp. 192-203 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Nicole Letourneau ◽

Catherine Young ◽

Loretta Secco ◽

Miriam Stewart ◽

Jean Hughes ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Intimate Partner Violence ◽

Young Children ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Service Providers ◽

Intimate Partner

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Attention Bias to Emotional Faces in Young Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence

Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma ◽

10.1080/19361521.2011.573525 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 109-122 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Johnna R. Swartz ◽

Sandra A. Graham-Bermann ◽

Karin Mogg ◽

Brendan P. Bradley ◽

Christopher S. Monk

Keyword(s):

Intimate Partner Violence ◽

Young Children ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Attention Bias ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Emotional Faces

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Factors Associated With Women’s Reporting of Intimate Partner Violence in Spain

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/0886260515625512 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 33 (15) ◽

pp. 2402-2419 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Belén Sanz-Barbero ◽

Laura Otero-García ◽

Carmen Vives-Cases

Keyword(s):

Intimate Partner Violence ◽

Young Children ◽

Confidence Interval ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Prevalence Ratio ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Gender Violence ◽

Factors Associated ◽

Reporting Process ◽

Principal Factors

In Spain, in 2013, the 20% of women who were murdered by their partner had reported him previously. We analyze the 2011 Spanish-Macrosurvey on Gender Violence to identify and analyze the prevalence of and the principal factors associated with reporting a situation of intimate partner violence (IPV) and the main reasons women cite for not filing such reports, or for subsequently deciding to withdraw their complaint. Overall, 72.8% of women exposed to IPV did not report their aggressor. The most frequent reasons for not reporting were not giving importance to the situation (33.9%), and fear and lack of trust in the reporting process (21.3%). The main reasons for withdrawing the complaint were cessation of the violence (20.0%), and fear and threats (18.2%). The probability of reporting increased among women with young children who were abused, prevalence ratio (95% confidence interval [CI]): 2.14 [1.54, 2.98], and those whose mother was abused, prevalence ratio (95% CI): 2.25 [1.42, 3.57]. Always focusing on the need to protect women who report abuse, it is necessary to promote the availability of and access to legal resources especially among women who use them less: women who do not have children and women who do not have previous family exposure to violence.

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Mothers’ Intimate Partner Violence Victimization and Depression: Associations with Children’s Behavioral Functioning

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/08862605211056731 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 088626052110567

Author(s):

Alyssa M. Yetter

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Intimate Partner Violence ◽

Los Angeles ◽

Behavior Problems ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Externalizing Behavior ◽

Externalizing Behavior Problems ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Behavioral Functioning ◽

Internalizing And Externalizing

Despite robust bodies of literature documenting that both mothers’ intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization and mothers’ mental health are consequential for children’s behavioral functioning, the conjunction of these two risk factors is less understood. Findings are mixed as to whether mental health mediates the effect of IPV on behavioral functioning. Such mixed findings may result from literature primarily examining samples selected from clinical, shelter, or intervention settings. Furthermore, few studies have expanded the literature to assess moderation, rather than mediation, effects. While mediation analysis tests whether behavioral problems result from mothers’ IPV because IPV increases depression, moderation analysis instead tests whether mother’s IPV victimization has a different impact for their children based on whether or not the mother is also experiencing depression. The current study uses a representative survey of neighborhoods and households in Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey ( n = 1,913), to examine the combined effects of mothers’ IPV victimization and depression on children’s internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. The findings suggest that mothers’ IPV victimization and depression have direct, positive effects on both internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Additionally, there is a moderation effect such that children of mothers who suffer from both IPV victimization and depression have higher levels of internalizing behavior problems. These results emphasize the importance of addressing the mental health of IPV victims, not only for the benefit of the direct victim, but also for the benefit of her children.

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