The impact of intimate partner violence on children from their point of view: A swiss study

Background

Living with intimate partner violence (IPV) puts children at risk of negative short- and long-term outcomes. Studies on this topic are mainly quantitative and often focused on psychological and behavioral outcomes.

Objective

This qualitative study examines, more broadly and from their own perspective, impacts on the health and well-being of children.

Participants and setting

In 2022, we interviewed 20 adolescents and young adults who had experienced parental IPV when they were minors and whose parent attended a Swiss clinical forensic consultation for IPV between 2011 and 2018.

Methods

Semi-structured individual interviews were carried out, covering the main areas of the participants’ life since birth. A thematic analysis was conducted on the interview transcripts.

Findings

Short- and long-term impacts were reported. Impacts on mental health included fear, worry, and anxiety; trauma; feelings of sadness and abandonment; negative self-image and anger. Impacts on behaviors were sleep problems; social isolation and difficulties; fleeing from home; self-harm; and aggression and violence. Injuries and other physical impacts were mentioned, such as pain, fatigue, and weight problems. Financial and social impacts, impacts on school, and damage to relationships, especially with the victimized parent, were also reported. Interactions between impacts and cascading effects were often noted.

Conclusions

Impacts occur at different levels of the social ecology and stem not only from the experience of acute IPV events, but more broadly from the daily experience of IPV, where coercive control and other victimizations are often the norm. Recommendations for practice are provided.