Does exposure to domestic violence impact on the mental health of children in the child welfare system?

Domestic violence has been recognized as a serious social problem in this country since the 1970's. Yet only recently have researchers focused on children affected by domestic violence. Families affected by domestic violence are represented in all service systems and in every community. Children exposed to violence between their parents and/or caregiver partners are in our schools, day-care centers, health care institutions, child welfare systems, juvenile justice system, court systems, and other agency settings.

Domestic violence is an issue for Child Protective Services (CPS) because it is present in many of the families that CPS serves and because it can have serious adverse effects on children who are exposed to it. For example, a 1991 study of the Massachusetts Department of Social Services reviewing 200 substantiated child abuse reports found that 33% of the case records mentioned domestic violence. Other studies show that between 30% and 60% of men who batter their female partners also abuse their children. Even when children themselves are not the direct victims of the physical violence, they are affected by the violence they witness in their homes. Children sometimes see their mothers being beaten. Other times they hear the violence and see its aftermath - the cuts, bruises, broken bones, and destroyed property. Studies thus far have found that children who witness domestic violence generally exhibit greater childhood behavioral, emotional, and social problems than do those who have not experienced domestic violence. Some of these effects include behavioral problems such as aggression, phobias, insomnia, low self-esteem, and depression. Exposure to chronic or extreme domestic violence may result in symptoms consistent with post - traumatic stress disorder, such as emotional numbing, increased arousal, avoidance of any reminders of the violent event, or obsessive and repeated focus on the event.

The effects of domestic violence can vary tremendously from one child to another. The family situation, community environment, and the child's own personality may either strengthen the child's ability to cope or increase the child's risk of harm. For example, studies have indicated that children exposed to both domestic violence and child maltreatment typically show higher levels of distress than children exposed only to domestic violence. Additional research is needed to determine if the presence of other stressors such as poverty, homelessness, substance abuse, and exposure to community violence exacerbate the negative effects of domestic violence on the mental health of children.

ENDNOTES

1. Edelson, J.L. The overlap between child maltreatment and woman beating. Violence Against Women (February, 1999) 5: 134-54.

2. Edelson, J.L. Children witnessing of adult domestic violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence (August, 1999) 14: 839-70.

3. See note #2 Edelson.

4. Silvern, L., Karly, J., and Landis, T.Y. Individual psychotherapy for traumatized children of abused women. In ending the cycle of violence: Community Responses to Children of Battered Women. E. Peled, P.G. Jaffee, and V.L. Edelson, eds. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1995, pp. 43-76.

5.  Rossman, B.B. Descartes's error and post traumatic stress disorder: Cognition and emotion in children who are exposed to paternal violence. In Children exposed to marital violence. G.W. Halden, R. Geffner, and E.N. Jouriles. Eds. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 1998, pp. 223-56