Mental health in girls and boys exposed to intimate partner violence

Abstract

Objectives: Children of abused women have a greater risk of mental health problems. This study assesses the association between women's exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) and the mental health of their children in the population of the Madrid Region.

Study design: Cross-sectional.

Methods: Data were drawn from the '2014 Survey on Intimate Partner Violence against Women in the Madrid Region'. Women meeting the definition of IPV answered the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) on the mental health of one of their children aged 4-16 years. The comparison group was made up of mother-child dyads that had not been exposed to IPV. We used multivariate analysis to assess whether the children of abused women had a greater probability of having higher SDQ subscale and total scores.

Results: A total of 209 mother-child dyads were analyzed, 64 exposed (50% boys) and 145 unexposed to IPV (51% boys). Exposure to IPV was associated with a high SDQ score (greater risk of mental health problems), with a prevalence ratio of 3.6 (95% CI 1.2-10.3) in girls and 2.4 (95% CI 1.1-5.1) in boys. Among girls, moreover, exposure to IPV was significantly associated with behavioral and inattention/hyperactivity problems. In conclusion, exposure to IPV was associated with an increased frequency of mental health problems among children in general, and girls in particular.

Conclusions: This study reinforces the recommendations to conduct studies with data disaggregated by sex and to address the impact of IPV in mothers and children jointly.