Gonzalez Andrea, MacMillan Harriet, Tanaka Masako, Jack Susan M, Tonmyr Lil
Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences and of Pediatrics, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada.
School of Nursing, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada.
Child Abuse Negl. 2014 Dec;38(12):1934-44. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.10.007. Epub 2014 Nov 14.
Children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) are at increased risk of experiencing behavioral difficulties including externalizing and internalizing problems. While there is mounting evidence about mental health problems in children exposed to IPV, most of the research to date focuses on IPV exposure as a unitary, homogeneous construct. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between subtypes of IPV exposure on child functioning and presence of harm within a child welfare sample. Given the evidence of the "double whammy" effect, co-occurring IPV exposure was also examined. Using data from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect - 2008 (n=2,184) we examined whether specific IPV exposure subtypes or their co-occurrence resulted in a greater risk of child maladjustment. Information was obtained from child welfare workers' reports. Caregiver and household risk factors were also examined. Co-occurring IPV exposure resulted in the greatest risk for reported child maladjustment. Exposure to emotional IPV and direct physical IPV were significantly associated with increased risk of internalizing problems and presence of harm. Caregiver mental health and lack of social support emerged as significant risk factors for behavior problems. This study adds to the evidence that exposure to subtypes of IPV may be differentially related to child functioning. Given that risk factors and child functioning is part of the decision-making framework for case worker referrals, this study provides important preliminary evidence about how the child welfare system operates in practice with respect to sub-types of exposure to IPV. These findings suggest that intervening with children exposed to different types of IPV may require a tailored approach.
遭受亲密伴侣暴力（IPV）的儿童出现行为问题（包括外化问题和内化问题）的风险会增加。虽然有越来越多的证据表明遭受IPV的儿童存在心理健康问题，但迄今为止，大多数研究都将IPV暴露视为一个单一、同质的概念。本研究的目的是在儿童福利样本中，考察IPV暴露亚型与儿童机能及伤害存在之间的关联。鉴于“双重打击”效应的证据，还对同时发生的IPV暴露进行了研究。利用2008年加拿大儿童虐待和忽视报告发生率研究的数据（n = 2184），我们考察了特定的IPV暴露亚型或它们的同时出现是否会导致儿童适应不良的风险增加。信息来自儿童福利工作者的报告。还考察了照顾者和家庭风险因素。同时发生的IPV暴露导致报告的儿童适应不良风险最大。暴露于情感IPV和直接身体IPV与内化问题风险增加及伤害存在显著相关。照顾者的心理健康和缺乏社会支持是行为问题的重要风险因素。本研究补充了证据，表明暴露于IPV亚型可能与儿童机能存在不同的关联。鉴于风险因素和儿童机能是个案工作者转介决策框架的一部分，本研究提供了重要的初步证据，说明儿童福利系统在处理IPV暴露亚型方面的实际运作情况。这些发现表明，对遭受不同类型IPV的儿童进行干预可能需要采取量身定制的方法。
