Co-Occurrence of Child and Partner Maltreatment

Knickerbocker, Lauren; Heyman, Richard E.; Slep, Amy M. Smith; Jouriles, Ernest N.; McDonald, Renée

doi:10.1027/1016-9040.12.1.36

Cited by 50 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…In the context of IPV, parents may be less available for comforting children due to their parenting having been undermined by their abusive partner (Bancroft et al, 2011; Knickerbocker, Heyman, Smith-Slep, Jouriles, & McDonald, 2007). In such environments, children may attach with non-parent others, including siblings (Renner, 2012), and may turn to animals for comfort and companionship (DeGue, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Children's experiences of companion animal maltreatment in households characterized by intimate partner violence

McDonald

Collins²,

Nicotera

et al. 2015

Child Abuse & Neglect

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Cruelty toward companion animals is a well-documented, coercive tactic used by abusive partners to intimidate and control their intimate partners. Experiences of co-occurring violence are common for children living in families with intimate partner violence (IPV) and surveys show that more than half are also exposed to abuse of their pets. Given children’s relationships with their pets, witnessing such abuse may be traumatic for them. Yet little is known about the prevalence and significance of this issue for children. The present study examines the experiences of children in families with co-occurring pet abuse and IPV. Using qualitative methods, 58 children ages 7-12 who were exposed to IPV were asked to describe their experiences of threats to and harm of their companion animals. Following the interviews, template analysis was employed to systematically develop codes and themes. Coding reliability was assessed using Randolph's free-marginal multirater kappa (kfree = .90). Five themes emerged from the qualitative data, the most common being children’s exposure to pet abuse as a power and control tactic against their mother in the context of IPV. Other themes were animal maltreatment to discipline or punish the pet, animal cruelty by a sibling, children intervening to prevent pet abuse, and children intervening to protect the pet during a violent episode. Results indicate that children’s experiences of pet abuse are multifaceted, potentially traumatic, and may involve multiple family members with diverse motives.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Children's experiences of companion animal maltreatment in households characterized by intimate partner violence

McDonald

Collins²,

Nicotera

et al. 2015

Child Abuse & Neglect

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“…Stress and anger produced during conflict among spouses is described as spilling over into the parent -child relationship, resulting in relationships characterized by more harsh, controlling maternal parenting behaviors and higher rates of child-directed aggression (Cox, Paley, & Harter, 2001;Slep & O'Leary, 2005), in addition to an increased likelihood of corporal punishment (Straus & Kantor, 1995). Consistent with this idea, recent work suggests that there is a substantial cooccurrence of partner maltreatment and child abuse (Jouriles, McDonald, Slep, Heyman, & Garrido, 2008;Knickerbocker, Heyman, Slep, Jouriles, & McDonald, 2007), such that an estimated 45% to 70% of children living in physically violent homes are also being physically abused by a parent (Holt, Buckley, & Whelen, 2008). Similarly, Levendosky, Leahy, Bogat, Davidson, and von Eye (2006) found that higher levels of IPV were associated with less ideal observed parenting behaviors, which they captured using a latent variable that included measures of maternal intrusiveness and hostility.…”

Section: Intimate Partner Violencementioning

confidence: 98%

Relations Among Intimate Partner Violence, Maternal Depressive Symptoms, and Maternal Parenting Behaviors

Gustafsson¹,

Cox²

2012

J of Marriage and Family

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The authors examined the relations among intimate partner violence (IPV), maternal depressive symptoms, and maternal harsh intrusive parenting. Using a cross-lagged, autoregressive path model, they sought to clarify the directionality of the relations among these 3 variables over the first 2 years of the child’s life. The results indicated that, in this diverse sample of families living in predominantly low-income rural communities (N = 705), higher levels of early IPV were associated with increases in maternal depressive symptoms, which in turn were associated with increases in maternal harsh intrusive parenting behaviors. These findings suggest that interventions aimed at improving the parenting of women exposed to domestic violence may want to simultaneously target IPV and depressive symptomatology.

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“…Policies should direct resources toward the needs of mother-child dyads. Screening in pediatric settings for abuse of women, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (Thackeray et al, 2010), is not only an opportunity to intervene to prevent domestic violence and exposure of the child to partner violence but also may be an opportunity to prevent or minimize the risk of child maltreatment by the mother's abuser (Connolly et al, 2006;Edleson, 1999;Guille, 2004;Knickerbocker, Heyman, Slep, Jouriles, & McDonald, 2007;Symes, 2011). Advocates can support establishment and expansion of programs that target the well-being of mother-child dyads.…”

Section: Limitations and Directions For Future Health Care Policy Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Partner Abuse of Mothers Compromises Children's Behavioral Functioning Through Maternal Mental Health Dysfunction: Analysis of 300 Mother‐Child Pairs

Maddoux

Liu

Symes

et al. 2015

Research in Nursing & Health

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Partner violence is associated with numerous negative consequences for victims, especially poor mental health. Children who are exposed to partner violence are more likely to have behavior problems. Nevertheless, research on the relationship between severity of abuse, maternal mental health functioning following partner violence, and child behavior problems is limited. We explored the direct and indirect effects on the child's behavioral functioning of severity of maternal abuse and maternal mental health functioning following abuse. A sample of 300 mothers was recruited when they sought assistance for abuse for the first time at shelters for abused women or at the district attorney's office. Severity of abuse, mothers' mental health functioning, and child behavioral functioning were measured by maternal self-report at entry into the study and 4 months later. In SEM analysis, at both entry and 4 months, severity of abuse had a direct effect on maternal mental health functioning, which in turn had a direct effect on child behavioral functioning. The path from severity of abuse to child behavioral functioning also was significant but became non- significant once maternal mental health functioning was added to the equation, indicating that the path from severity of abuse to child behavioral functioning was indirect and occurred as a result of the mother's mental health functioning, which remained directly linked to child behavioral problems. Intergenerational interventions are needed to address both maternal mental health and child behavioral functioning when a mother reports partner violence and is experiencing mental health problems.

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Co-Occurrence of Child and Partner Maltreatment

Cited by 50 publications

References 39 publications

Children's experiences of companion animal maltreatment in households characterized by intimate partner violence

Children's experiences of companion animal maltreatment in households characterized by intimate partner violence

Relations Among Intimate Partner Violence, Maternal Depressive Symptoms, and Maternal Parenting Behaviors

Partner Abuse of Mothers Compromises Children's Behavioral Functioning Through Maternal Mental Health Dysfunction: Analysis of 300 Mother‐Child Pairs

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