Domestic/Intimate Partner Violence

Research indicates that in 30 percent to 60 percent of families where spousal abuse takes place, child maltreatment also occurs. Children in violent homes may witness parental violence, be victims of physical abuse themselves, or be neglected by parents who are focused on their partners or unresponsive to their children due to their own fears. Even if children are not maltreated, they may experience harmful emotional consequences from the violence they witness.

The Co-occurrence of Child and Intimate Partner Maltreatment in the Family: Characteristics of the Violent Perpetrators
Dixon, Hamilton-Giachritsis, Browne, & Ostapuik
Journal of Family Violence, 22(8), 2007
View Abstract
Examines perpetrator characteristics related to both child maltreatment and intimate partner violence such as gender, mental health, maltreatment type, history of abuse, and more.

Fathering by Partner-Abusive Men: Attitudes on Children's Exposure to Interparental Conflict and Risk Factors for Child Abuse
Salisbury, Henning, & Holdford
Child Maltreatment, 14(3), 2009
View Abstract
Identifies risk factors for maltreatment of children who witness intimate partner violence by male offenders.

Interpartner Conflict and Child Abuse Risk Among African American and Latino Adolescent Parenting Couples
Moore & Florsheim
Child Abuse and Neglect: The International Journal, 32(4), 2008
View Abstract
Examines multiethnic teen parents, interpartner violence, and their occurrence with child maltreatment. Results indicated that violence before the birth of a child was a risk factor for physical abuse for fathers.

Intersection of Child Abuse and Children's Exposure to Domestic Violence
Herrenkohl, Sousa, & Tajima
Trauma, Violence, and Abuse, 9(2), 2008
View Abstract
Addresses research on the overlap of physical child abuse and domestic violence, the prediction of child outcomes, and resilience in children exposed to family violence.

Intimate Partner Violence and Child Maltreatment: Understanding Co-Occurrence and Intergenerational Connections (PDF - 202 KB)
Renner & Slack (2004)
Examines intergenerational pathways of family violence and assesses the extent to which different forms of family violence occur during childhood and during adulthood within the same sample.

Intimate Partner Violence During Pregnancy and Mothers' Child Abuse Potential
Casanueva & Martin
Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 22(5), 2007
View Abstract
Studies increased risk factors for child abuse among women who experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy. Findings indicated the odds of having a high level of child abuse potential were three times greater for women who were victims of IPV compared to nonvictims.

Parent and Partner Violence in Families With Young Children: Rates, Patterns, and Connections (PDF - 115 KB)
Slep & O'Leary
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73(3), 2005
Presents a study finding strong connections between partner aggression and parent aggression toward children among 453 representatively sampled families with young children.

Repeated Reports for Child Maltreatment Among Intimate Partner Violence Victims: Findings from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being
Casanueva, Martin, & Runyan
Child Abuse and Neglect : The International Journal, 33(2), 2009
View Abstract
Reports on the prevalence on intimate partner violence among mothers who maltreat their children and to determine how intimate partner violence is a risk factor for child maltreatment. Results showed that the mothers who had experienced Intimate partner violence were twice as likely to abuse their child.

Women's Abuse of Their Children in the Context on Domestic Violence: Reflection From Women's Accounts
Damant, Lapierre, Lebossé, Thibault, Lessard, & Hamelin-Brabant et al.
Child and Family Social Work, 15(1), 2010
View Abstract
Examines factors affecting the relationship between a woman's experience of domestic violence and subsequent child maltreatment.