Intimate partner violence (IPV) constitutes a hidden health risk for exposed mothers and children. In Sweden, screening for IPV in healthcare has only been routine during pregnancy, despite an increase in IPV following childbirth. The arguments against routine questions postpartum have concerned a lack of evidence of beneficial effects as well as fear of stigmatizing women or placing abused women at further risk. Increased understanding of women's attitudes to routine questions may allay these fears. In this study, 198 mothers in 12 child healthcare centres (CHCs) filled in a short questionnaire about their exposure and received information on IPV at a regular baby check-up visit. The mothers' lifetime prevalence of exposure to IPV was 16%. One hundred and twenty-eight mothers participated in a telephone interview, giving their opinion on the screening experience. The intervention was well-received by most of the mothers who reported that questions and information on IPV are essential for parents, considering the health risks for children, and that the CHC is a natural arena for this. Necessary prerequisites were that questioning be routine to avoid stigmatizing and be offered in privacy without the partner being present.
One way for young people to reduce the risk of problems associated with having experienced family violence is to talk about their experiences with a counselor. However, little is known about how young people judge the quality of such relationships. The aim of this study was to analyze what young people describe as valuable in their relationship with the counselor with whom they talked about experiences of family violence. Fourteen semi-structured interviews with nine young people between the ages 12 and 19 years were analyzed using a thematic method. The participants were recruited within an evaluation of a treatment program in Sweden. The thematic analysis revealed four distinct themes about what the young people described as particularly valuable aspects of the counseling relationship: the opportunity to talk, a model for other relationships, and going Bin and out of^the topic of violence, which was valued by the younger teenagers; and being listened to Balmost like an adult,^which was valued by the older teenagers. The abstracted common thread was the importance for the young people of feeling equal to others somehow. The quality of the relationship between helper and helped is of central importance for young people and what specifically, from young people's point of view, constitutes such quality for younger and older teenagers respectively. The results indicate the benefit of counselors being especially flexible with young people exposed to violence and being able to establish trustful relationships with them.
While a significant body of research suggests that exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) during childhood has severe and long-lasting consequences, little is known about how children cope with witnessing IPV, including who they tell about the violence, whether they receive support after disclosing, and the association between childhood disclosure and adulthood mental health. The current study examines these issues in 703 Swedish young adults who endorsed witnessing IPV during childhood. In this sample, 57% reported that they had ever confided in someone about the witnessed violence. The primary reason given for not disclosing was the belief that no one could do anything about it, which was endorsed by 41% of the young adults who kept the violence concealed. Individuals who disclosed the violence were most likely to tell a friend and least likely to use an anonymous hotline. Young adults with higher levels of depression were less likely to have disclosed IPV during their childhood. Individuals' use of formal reporting outlets was endorsed infrequently, with only 5.2% recalling that they had personally reported the violence or someone else had reported it on their behalf. If such reports were filed, it was most likely to the police. These formal reports typically resulted in participants feeling that the problem continued anyway or that they were believed, but no changes were made. Given the infrequent use of formal reporting services, results suggest that for this sample, reporting outlets for IPV exposure may be underutilized and may not be perceived as beneficial.
The Violence in Families questionnaire was regarded as a useful tool and could thus be implemented in practice. However, it is important to offer education to the nurses prior to implementing a routine of asking about intimate partner violence in the child healthcare setting.
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