The effects of child maltreatment and exposure to intimate partner violence on child behavioral outcomes: an examination of the severity, frequency, and co-occurrence
Creators: name: Chen, Yafan
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2024

description: Child maltreatment (CM) and exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) are both recognized as serious social problems that jeopardize child behavioral health. Even though several studies have investigated the effects of CM and IPV exposure on children, the existing evidence is still inconclusive regarding the complicated nature and consequences of these severe issues. For instance, there is a limited understanding of how the severity, frequency, and co-occurrence of CM and IPV exposure affect children’s behavioral health. Furthermore, existing evidence primarily focuses on broad-band internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems; fewer studies have looked at specific types of behavioral problems. Therefore, this dissertation is divided into three separate papers that specifically address the effects of severity, frequency, and co-occurrence of CM and IPV exposure on children’s anxious/depressive symptoms and aggressive behavior. This dissertation targets children in toddlerhood and early childhood (i.e., ages 1–6 years), when these young children are extremely vulnerable to both CM and IPV exposure. The specific aims for the overall study include: (1) exploring how the severity patterns of CM and exposure to physical IPV (PIPV) relate to children’s anxious/depressive symptoms and aggressive behavior (Paper 1); (2) examining how the frequency of CM and PIPV exposure contributes to children’s co-development of anxious/depressive symptoms and aggressive behavior over time (Paper 2); and (3) investigating whether the co-occurrence of CM and PIPV exposure is associated with worse anxious/depressive symptoms and aggressive behavior than either CM or IPV exposure only (Paper 3). Secondary data analysis was conducted using the second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW II), a national longitudinal study that examines the well-being of children and families who were investigated by Child Protective Services for alleged child abuse and/or neglect. Using latent class analysis, Paper 1 identifies four classes of children with distinct severity patterns of CM and PIPV exposure at baseline. Among these four classes of children, one class had low to moderate probability of experiencing violence, and the other three classes had high probabilities of experiencing at least one type of violence with various severity levels. When comparing class differences in anxious/depressive symptoms and aggressive behavior, children in the latter three classes indicated more anxious/depressive symptoms and aggressive behavior than those in the first class. Paper 2 employs latent growth curve modeling to examine how the frequency of CM and PIPV exposure affect children’s co-development of anxious/depressive symptoms and aggressive behavior over time. Results suggest that higher initial levels of anxious/depressive symptoms were correlated to higher initial levels of aggressive behavior, and the rates of change of both outcomes were positively correlated. CM was associated with worse anxious/depressive symptoms and aggressive behavior at all three time points, and IPV exposure was associated with worse outcomes at two time points. Paper 3 investigates the effects of the co-occurrence of CM and PIPV exposure on anxious/depressive symptoms and aggressive behavior. Regression results indicate that the co-occurrence was associated with worse anxious/depressive symptoms and aggressive behavior when compared to CM only and/or PIPV exposure only. Further specification analyses show that children who experienced co-occurring neglect and PIPV exposure reported worse anxious/depressive symptoms and aggressive behavior than children who were only exposed to PIPV. Overall, the findings of this dissertation inform both research and practice. Future research should continue investigating how nuanced characteristics of CM and IPV exposure may independently affect the behavioral health of young children. Studies should also explore age differences in the relationship between CM and IPV exposure and child behavioral outcomes. A longitudinal research design can advance future research by allowing the exploration of mechanisms and moderators that may explain some children’s resilience against CM and IPV exposure. Child welfare practice protocol should integrate ongoing and effective IPV training so that child welfare workers are more prepared to serve children and families that experience co-occurring CM and IPV. Clinicians should develop a thorough diagram about clients’ experiences of violence at an early age utilizing a comprehensive assessment. Trauma-informed practice would be an important tool for clinicians to better understand clients’ current problems considering the impacts of early trauma.