Abstract
ABSTRACTIntimate partner violence is a public health problem worldwide. Many children witness intimate partner violence at home and are affected by it. Regardless of the degree of exposure, children growing up in violent homes experience negative effects in the form of externalising behaviour and internalising symptoms which call for targeted interventions for children. The aim of the study is to map i) the available methods of detecting child and adolescent witnesses of intimate partner violence and ii) the interventions to support them. Three databases, PubMed, PsychInfo and Social Services s, were searched for scientific publications spanning over 20 years (1997–2017). This resulted in 2,406 publications of which 15 were finally selected after screening. Analysis of the articles resulted in three categories. The process of detecting children and adolescents who witnessed IPV in their homes varied in the included studies. The children were most commonly identified through their mother or other caregivers. Very few studies were based on children’s own reporting of their experiences, but were rather based on the mothers’ proxy reports. Studies distinguishing between the different forms of violence witnessed by children were few. It was uncommon that children were directly identified or screened for witnessing IPV in the family.
Highlights
Intimate partner violence (IPV) defined as both acts and threats of physical, sexual, psychological and emotional violence perpetrated by a current or former intimate partner [1] is a public health problem worldwide [2]
IPV can be highly traumatic because children are close to the violence and experience severe posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [5]
The findings were broadly classified into three categories: 1) IPV rarely clearly classified as the main exposure, 2) Detecting child witnesses of IPV, and 3) Children not direct target group of interventions
Summary
Intimate partner violence (IPV) defined as both acts and threats of physical, sexual, psychological and emotional violence perpetrated by a current or former intimate partner [1] is a public health problem worldwide [2]. The prevalence of children’s exposure to IPV in the USA has been estimated to be 10–20% [3]. IPV can be highly traumatic because children are close to the violence and experience severe posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [5]. Regardless of degree of exposure to IPV, children growing up in violent homes experience more emotional, behavioural, social and cognitive problems and more symptoms, such as depression, anxiety, conduct disorder, aggression and attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) than children growing up in nonviolent homes [6]. Children witnessing IPV react differently and express this in diverse ways with externalising behaviour and internalising symptoms [7]. On the other hand, more often show internalising symptoms [8] e.g. anxiety/ depression [7] as a symptom of being a witness of IPV. Experiencing multiple forms of violence e.g. witnessing IPV, being exposed to child abuse themselves, or being exposed to both family and community violence, were related to trauma more frequently than experiencing one single type of violence repeatedly [9]
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