Early Life Exposure to Violence: Developmental Consequences on Brain and Behavior

Abstract

Exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) can have long-lasting effects on a child’s socio-emotional and neurological development. Research has focused on the effects of IPV on women or older children, while the developmental consequences of exposure to domestic violence during early childhood are less well documented. However, one would expect significant developmental effects since the infant’s brain and stress-related systems are especially susceptible to environmental stimuli. The goal of this mini-review is to examine how findings on infant exposure to IPV can be related to risk and resilience of development in infancy. We describe the known effects of witnessing violence during the perinatal period on socio-emotional development and the possible pathways by which IPV affects brain and stress-regulating systems. Exposure to IPV during infancy disrupts the infant’s emotional and cognitive development, the development of the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis and brain structures related to witnessing itself (auditory and visual cortex). The findings are embedded in the context of the resource depletion hypothesis. A central problem is the dearth of research on exposure to IPV during infancy, its effect on caregiving, and infant development. Nonetheless, the available evidence makes it clear that policies for prevention of IPV are critically needed.

The long shadow of violence: The impact of exposure to intimate partner violence in infancy and early childhood

“…These early experiences lay the foundation for future development (Carpenter & Stacks, 2009;Sroufe & Rutter, 1984). Thus it is now recognized that witnessing IPV between caregivers (as opposed to being a direct object) has detrimental effects on the development of brain and behavior (Mueller & Tronick, 2019;Pepler, Catallo, & Moore, 2000;Van der Kolk, 2015;Zeanah & Gleason, 2010).…”

The Circumstances of Children with and without Disabilities or Significant Cognitive Delay Living in Ordinary Households in 30 Middle- and Low-Income Countries

“…The increased risk of having a mother with disabilities for young children with disabilities/significant cognitive delay requires further investigation to unravel the relationship between maternal disability type (functional limitations) and functional limitations of the child. The higher risk for children with disabilities/significant cognitive delay to live in households where intimate partner violence was considered acceptable by the child's mother is worrying and deserves further research attention for two reasons: the solid evidence on the deleterious and sustained impact of intimate partner violence on children [36] and the emerging evidence on impaired cognitive functioning for women subject to ongoing intimate partner violence [37].…”

Transteoretical Approaches on Domestic Violence

“…(19) Studies show that it is not compulsory for a child to be a victim of domestic violence, it is enough to witness such situations in order to affect his/her emotional development, but also from a social and neuro-cognitive point of view. (20) Instead, one of the most pernicious forms of child abuse is the sexual abuse. Following an analysis of multiple studies in the field, it was pointed out that those subjected to such behaviour have very high chances of being decompensated by organic pathologies, mental disorders or psycho-social disorders.…”