Psychological intimate partner violence, child witnessing of parental arguments, and emotional-behavioral outcomes in five-years old: The French ELFE cohort

Abstract

Background

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is associated with children's emotional and behavioral difficulties. Psychological-IPV (P-IPV) is most common, and occurs alone or along other forms of IPV. Little is known about the longitudinal course of P-IPV exposure and its consequences on children taking into account whether or not they are present during parental arguments.

Objective

To identify longitudinal trajectories of P-IPV from preconception through the child's second year of life and examine associations with children's emotional-behavioral outcomes at age five years, depending on the child's presence during parental arguments in the second year of life.

Participants and setting

Data from the nationally representative French birth cohort ELFE including children born in 2011 were used.

Methods

P-IPV exposure was assessed before conception, during pregnancy, at two months and at two years postpartum. Parents completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) at five years. Group-based trajectory modelling was used to identify P-IPV trajectories. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to study the relationship between P-IPV trajectories and SDQ.

Results

9639 children were included. Five trajectories of exposure to P-IPV were identified: minimal (70.6 %), prenatal (10.0 %), increasing (6.4 %), decreasing (7.5 %), persistent (5.5 %). Persistent and decreasing P-IPV trajectories and frequent child presence during parental arguments were associated with children's increased odds of having abnormal total SDQ scores (OR 2.31 95 % CI 1.54–3.47; OR 1.64 95%CI: 1.11–2.43; OR 1.88 95%CI:1.17–3.02, respectively).

Conclusions

Early identification and consideration of children living in a home where IPV occurs could allow provision of timely and appropriate support.