Violence Exposure in Young Children: Child-Oriented Routines as a Protective Factor for School Readiness

Toward a dimensional model of family-based resilience: Sensitivity, stimulation, and stability as moderators of early-life adversity.

“…In addition to the importance of family stability in offsetting the destructive effect of early deprivation, family stability has been documented as a protective factor against threat-related ELA. David et al (2015) found that when primary caregivers reported higher levels of consistent discipline and daily routines, children who witnessed IPV appeared to have more advanced school readiness compared to those living in an unstable home environment. Additionally, multiple studies have investigated the moderating effect of family stability on the association between hostile parenting (a proxy of threat exposure), and mental health and behavioral outcomes (Coldwell et al, 2006; Kahn et al, 2016; Tucker et al, 2018).…”

“…To date, a unified conceptualization of family stability is lacking. The range of variables used to assess family stability include, but are not limited to: the number of changes in family structures and life circumstances (Belsky et al, 2012; Sturge-Apple, Davies, et al, 2017; Villodas et al, 2016); the consistency in daily routines and family rituals (Ivanova & Israel, 2006; Markson & Fiese, 2000; Zajicek-Farber et al, 2014); regularity of parental monitoring and positive discipline (Coley & Hoffman, 1996; David et al, 2015; Sullivan et al, 2004); and the calmness of the background environment and day-to-day life (see Marsh et al, 2020, for a review). All of these variables are essentially inverse indicators of unpredictability.…”

Measuring early life adversity: A dimensional approach

“…The VEX-R does not query the specific context (e.g., home or school) where violence occurred nor the perpetrator of violence as it was not designed to assess maltreatment experiences specifically. The parent-report version (VEX-PR) demonstrated adequate convergent validity with other measures and internal reliability consistency (David et al, 2015;Shahinfar et al, 2000). An Israeli study that assessed both child and caregiver reports found similar means and positive correlations between reporters except for a non-significant correlation for child witnessing violence at school (Raviv et al, 2001).…”

Childhood unpredictability research within the developmental psychopathology framework: Advances, implications, and future directions

“…Previous research has highlighted the benefits of creating structure through routines and rituals for young children and families (Fiese et al, 2002), particularly for those experiencing adversity or instability in other aspects of their lives. Child-and family-level routines, for example, have been shown to protect against the negative effects of daily hassles (Bridley & Jordan, 2012), domestic violence exposure (David et al, 2015), and the COVID-19 pandemic (Glynn et al, 2021) on children's wellbeing. Children may also rely on predictability in out-of-home contexts, especially when their home environment is not as stable.…”