Parents who recently experienced intimate partner violence reported increased parenting stress and a higher potential for child maltreatment, according to research from UTHealth Houston published on August 26, 2024, in JAMA Pediatrics.
“Our findings demonstrate the collateral damage of domestic violence — that the negative consequences are not limited to the couple and instead have the potential to affect how they parent, and ultimately the health of their children. We must expend every effort to prevent this public health problem,” said Jeff Temple, PhD, first author of the study and professor with the Louis A. Faillace, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston.
The research focused on physical and sexual partner violence. Beginning in 2010, over 1,000 high school students were given annual surveys. Now in its 15th year, the surveys include questions about mental health, violence, and parenting. Researchers also assessed child abuse potential, parental stress, and positive parenting skills.
Temple emphasized the need to expand resources for people in violent relationships, encourage them with positive parenting strategies, and provide tools to become better parents. The study suggests that addressing stress and anxiety in those experiencing intimate partner violence could help avoid potential maltreatment of their children and promote healthy development.
“If you look at some of the systematic and structural factors that relate to both violence and parenting, it's harder to be a good parent, and to avoid violence if you are not making a livable wage if you live in unsafe housing if you live in a community that is experiencing a lot of violence if you have to work three jobs,” said Temple. “So if we can reduce that stress then maybe we can do things like reduce partner violence and prevent child abuse and promote positive parenting.”
Temple clarified that being in a violent relationship does not automatically make someone a bad parent; rather, it highlights ways to limit maltreatment of children.
“It's not a lost cause because we can give them the resources they need to get out of the violent relationship and to have positive parenting,” he said.
Co-authors with the Faillace Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences included Elizabeth Baumler, PhD., and Leila Wood PhD. Funding for the study came from grants K23HD059916 and R01HD099199 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (part of NIH), as well as grant 2012-WG-BX-17 0005 from the National Institute of Justice.
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