The Effects of Intimate Partner Violence on Women and Child Survivors: An Attachment Perspective

Abstract

Approximately 25% of women in the United States report having experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) in an adult relationship with a male partner. For affected women, IPV has been shown to increase the risk of psychopathology such as depression, anxiety, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress. Further, studies suggest that the risk of IPV (victimization or perpetration) may be carried intergenerationally, and children exposed to IPV are at a greater risk of both attachment insecurity and internalizing/externalizing problems. The authors employ an attachment perspective to describe how insecure/non-balanced working models of the relational self and others may be evoked by, elicit, or exacerbate maladaptive outcomes following experiences of IPV for mothers and their children. This article draws on both rich theory and empirical evidence in a discussion of attachment patterns in violent relationships, psychopathological outcomes for exposed women, disruptions in the caregiving relationship that may confer risk to children of exposed mothers, and the biological, social, and attachment risk factors for children exposed to IPV. A clinical case example is presented and discussed in the context of attachment theory.

Witnessing intimate partner violence and child maltreatment in Ugandan children: a cross-sectional survey

“…25 The direct trauma and stress response of witnessing IPV itself and indirect effect on mothers mental health, 26 disruption in caregiving due to injuries, economic effects, fathers behaviour and parenting style may all have influence on the child's mental health and well-being. 27 In high-income settings, evidence suggests that multiple exposures to different forms of violence from different actors has an additive effect on subsequent health risks. 10 Our evidence is consistent with this pattern, with those who are exposed to witnessing and violence showing very high odds of subsequent mental health difficulties and use of violence.…”

The Intergenerational Transfer of Mother–Daughter Risk for Gender-Based Abuse

“…At the start of life, a mother who is living with a physically abusive partner is under extreme stress and may become distracted from caregiving her young child. Researchers have found that abused women's early caregiving is destabilized by partner violence resulting in less attentive parenting overall (Burkett, 1991;Levendosky et al, 2012). Additionally, the mother is vulnerable to depression further compromising the quality of her caregiving (Le Brocque & Hammen, 2003).…”

“…Impaired psychological functioning influences parenting attitudes and behavior (i.e., warmth, control, child-centeredness, effectiveness), which in turn results in adverse effects on the children (Levendosky & Graham-Bermann, 2000a). Violence has profound effects on caregiving which relate to the child's attachment formation (Levendosky, Lannert, & Yalch, 2012). Abused women's internal working models of attachment, crucial for establishing a secure attachment with her child, are sometimes poorly developed even before she has delivered her child, during the prenatal period (Hugh-Bocks, Levendosky, Bogat, & von Eye, 2004).…”

Intimate Partner Violence, Spiritual Well-Being, and Parenting Stress in African-American Women

“…It is plausible that physical and nonphysical IPV differentially affect women's ability to utilize spiritually based coping strategies. For example, the attachment difficulties associated with IPV (Levendosky, Lannert, & Yalch, 2012) may make it more challenging, particularly for women with histories of nonphysical IPV, to feel an emotional connection to a higher power and to find solace in their spirituality.…”