Situational Characteristics Uniquely Associated With Children’s Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Exposure to parental violence can have devastating consequences for children, including significant personal, social, and academic problems. The present study determined the situational factors that are associated with children’s exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) incidents. To examine whether these factors were unique to child witnesses’ presence at IPV incidents, we also determined the factors that are associated with children’s exposure to family violence (FV) and other family member witnesses’ exposure to IPV incidents. Participants responded to an online panel survey investigating the role of alcohol and other drugs in family and domestic violence incidents in Australia. Nine hundred fifty-two respondents reported an IPV incident and 299 reported an FV incident; they provided details about their most recent incident. Results showed that child witnesses were more likely to be present during IPV incidents if the incident took place at home (odds ratio [OR] = 3.10), if a similar incident had occurred previously (OR = 1.66), if drugs were involved (OR = 1.60), and if a police report was made (OR = 2.61). There was some overlap with the other witness and violence combinations: The presence of a police report also predicted child witnesses’ presence at FV incidents, and a home location also predicted other family member witnesses’ presence at IPV incidents. These results enhance our understanding of the situations in which children might witness IPV incidents; future research is needed to determine whether these situational factors can be used to judge risk.

Consumo de álcool durante a pandemia da COVID-19: uma reflexão necessária para o enfrentamento da situação

“…Among young people and adolescents, such effects may take a few years to be identified. The consequences for children living with adults who started drinking at home are yet unknown, but the conjecture is that this exacerbated exposure is associated with early initiation, by easy access, perception of social acceptance of consumption 15 and the experience of more episodes of domestic violence 16 . It is worth mentioning that, among adolescents, parental styles are associated with the pattern of alcohol consumption and it is assumed that staying at home under parental supervision can lead to decreased consumption, particularly when parents adopt the authoritarian style, that is, offering more monitoring and responsiveness to adolescents' needs 17 .…”