The Damage Done Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence and their Mothers— Towards empirically based interventions in order to reduce negative health effects in children
Year: 2012
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Violence in intimate relationships occurs in all societies, and intimate partner\nviolence (IPV) is a prevalent and serious social problem. Mothers of young\nchildren are particularly often victims of IPV, the consequences of which\noften have long-lasting effects. Research has convincingly brought to light the\ndetrimental effects of IPV on women’s psychological and physical health.\nToo many children are raised in homes where IPV occurs. There is now\na substantial body of research of the harm that IPV exposure can inflict on\nchildren’s health and development.\nNationally and internationally there have been calls for research evaluating\nsupport services for children and their mothers in the aftermath of IPV. Since\n2007, the Social Services Act has prescribed the responsibility of social services\nfor ensuring that children who witness violence receive the support and help\nthey need. International knowledge is limited about the effectiveness of most\nmethods developed within and outside social services to support children who\nhave witnessed violence against their mothers. In Sweden, empirically based\nknowledge is almost nonexistent.\nThe data presented in this thesis comes from a national project evaluating the\nsupport available to children exposed to IPV and to their mothers, and from an\nearlier pilot project. After receiving support, children (9 to 13 years of age) in\nthe national evaluation study reported reduced symptom levels of post-traumatic\nstress and general psychological problems, and their mothers reported significant\nreductions in the children’s behavioral problems. However, despite the statistically\nsignificant results, the majority of children were unchanged following support,\nand many children with clinical levels of problems at study entry continued to\nhave elevated symptoms following support. The same pattern, with significant\ntreatment effects at the group level of analysis, but more modest results at the\nindividual level of analysis, were found for the self-rated mental health of mothers\nsubjected to IPV and their perceptions of their children’s behavioral problems\nafter they and their children attended concurrent 15-week group support\nprograms. The treatment results point to the need to monitor treatment progress\nin order to detect those who are unchanged or even worsened during treatment.\nAs a group, children 9 to 13 years old who were exposed to IPV evidenced\nlower quality of life and more recurrent health complaints than other Swedish\nchildren in the same age range. However, there was great variability among the\nchildren, and a large proportion of the children rated their quality of life to be\nas good as other children of the same age and did not have recurrent symptoms\nof headache, stomach-ache, or difficulties sleeping. Higher quality of life in\nchildren was associated with higher attachment security to both parents, better\ncapacity for emotion regulation, and lower negative emotionality, whereas more\nii\nrecurrent health complaints were associated with higher exposure to IPV and\nhigher negative emotionality. These results point up the importance of looking at\nthe individual characteristics of children to better understand their adjustment\nafter exposure to IPV, and to determine the best factors to target in individual\ninterventions.
Author: Karin Grip
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2142992521