Children’s Mental Health and Well-Being After Parental Intimate Partner Homicide: A Systematic Review

Abstract

When one parent kills the other, children are confronted with multiple losses, involving their attachment figures and their direct living environment. In these complex situations, potentially drastic decisions are made, for example, regarding new living arrangements and contact with the perpetrating parent. We aimed to synthesize the empirical literature on children's mental health and well-being after parental intimate partner homicide. A systematic search identified 17 relevant peer-reviewed articles (13 independent samples). We recorded the theoretical background, methodology, and sample characteristics of the studies, and extracted all child outcomes as well as potential risk and protective factors. Children's outcomes varied widely and included psychological, social, physical, and academic consequences (e.g., post-traumatic stress, attachment difficulties, weight and appetite changes, and drops in school grades). Potential risk and protective factors for children's outcomes included 10 categories of pre-, peri-, and post-homicide characteristics such as cultural background of the family, whether the child witnessed the homicide, and the level of conflict between the families of the victim and the perpetrator. We integrated the findings into a conceptual model of risk factors to direct clinical reflection and further research.

Children’s perspectives on life and well-being after parental intimate partner homicide

“…This qualitative interview study was part of a larger project regarding the characteristics, circumstances, and well-being of children who had been bereaved by parental intimate partner homicide in the Netherlands between 1993 and 2012 (Alisic et al, 2017, 2015), approved by the University Medical Center Utrecht Ethics Committee (13/609, 24-12-2013).…”

“…Three participants met criteria for PTSD at the time of the interview, while 12 reported some PTSD symptoms and eight did not experience PTSD symptoms [measured with the Dutch versions of the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV (Siebelink & Treffers, 2001) or the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders (Groenestijn, Akkerhuis, Kupka, Schneider, & Nolen, 1999), depending on participants’ age; see Alisic et al, 2015, for details]. One of the children with PTSD also had clinically significant grief symptoms [measured with the Dutch version of the Inventory of Traumatic Grief (Boelen, de Keijser & van den Bout, 2001) and the Inventory of Prolonged Grief for Children and Adolescents (Spuij et al, 2012)].…”

“…While clinical experience suggests that a substantial number of children require long-term mental health and social services, little empirical evidence is available regarding the circumstances and outcomes of children bereaved by parental intimate partner homicide. A systematic search for peer-reviewed studies into psychosocial outcomes of children bereaved by domestic homicide resulted in 13 studies worldwide, the majority American case studies or case series published before 2000 (Alisic, Krishna, Groot, & Frederick, 2015). Although these studies demonstrate children’s mental health difficulties and a range of negative outcomes across social, psychological, academic, and physical domains, they also showed a striking absence of children’s own voices on their daily life, circumstances, and needs post-homicide.…”

Children bereaved by fatal intimate partner violence: A population-based study into demographics, family characteristics and homicide exposure

“…However, little is known about the bereaved children’s circumstances and support needs. A recent systematic review identified only 13 broadly relevant studies worldwide, of which 8 were case studies, and all but two were convenience samples [ 8 ]. Possible reasons for the lack of research and insight include the highly sensitive nature of the topic, repeated changes in children’s living arrangements and contact details after the homicide, dissatisfaction of caregivers with child protection and placement services, and high levels of grief and mental health problems among both children and caregivers, including avoidance of potential reminders.…”

The association between conative functioning of adolescents exposed to intimate partner violence and family dimensions of cohesion and adaptibility

“…Given that the activity level determined the speed of information flow within the central nervous system, those disorders affected the efficiency of cognitive and motoric processes. The adolescents exposed to IPV experienced mental health consequences: psychological, social and academic difficulties in accomplishing school assignments 23 .…”