NCJ Number
202081
Date Published
2003
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This study explored the immediate coping strategies that children used in response to witnessing physical and emotional violence against their mothers by an intimate partner.
Abstract
A total of 80 women and 80 of their children were recruited from a variety of sources, including 2 domestic violence shelter programs, a community-based family services agency, and a State social services department. Eligibility requirements were that the women had at least one child between the ages of 7 and 11 living with them and that the mother had experienced domestic violence within the prior 4 months. The research used pre-existing measures in addition to measures created specifically for this study. A modified version of the Conflict Tactics Scale was used to assess the assailant's physical abuse of the mother over the prior 4 months. A shortened version of the Index of Psychological Abuse was used to assess the assailant's emotional abuse of the mother over the prior 4 months, and a 12-item scale was used to assess the types of injuries mothers received from the assailants over the prior 4 months. A scale was developed specifically for this study to measure children's behavior problems, and the Child Depression Inventory was used to measure children's depression. Harter's Self-Perception Profile for Children was used to assess children's self-concept and feelings of self-adequacy. The abuse witnessed by children was assessed by both mothers' and children's reports of the types of abuse witnessed and the frequency with which the witnessing of the abuse occurred. Directly following questions about the type and frequency of physical and emotional abuse witnessed by the children, both mothers and children were asked whether the children experienced or engaged in a range of emotional and behavioral responses to witnessing abuse against their mothers. Data analysis identified four distinct clusters by whether or not children became aggressive against the assailant and sought help, became overprotective of their mothers, avoided or ignored the abuse, or had little response at all. Children who had little response at all to the domestic violence had witnessed less physical and emotional abuse than the other children; and children who became aggressive against the assailants were more likely to be living with them than children in other clusters. Virtually no differences were found across groups regarding the relationship between coping strategy and child well-being. This study thus provides preliminary evidence that children's immediate coping strategies may depend more on situational variables than individual factors. Study limitations and future research are discussed.