Exploring Family Violence Exposure As a Risk Factors for Suspension in Elementary School

Background: Early exposure to trauma, including family violence, is linked to increases in problem behaviors in children. Children with behavioral difficulties are more likely to get suspended than children without, however exposure to family violence and other childhood traumas have not yet been explored as risk factors for school suspension. This is an issue as suspension has proven detrimental outcomes for children, including lower academic performance, increased rates of future suspension, academic disengagement, and higher risk of dropping out of school. The aim of this study was to determine whether exposure to family violence indirectly impacts risk of suspension through children’s anger-related behaviors using indirect effects structural equation modeling analyses.

Methods: This study included data from children in the age 8 wave of the LONGSCAN study (n=525). Suspension was measured by teacher reports of the number of days a student had been suspended from their class in the present school year. The child’s anger related behaviors were measured through a composite of responses to similar questions answered by parents, teachers, and children. Fighting, arguing, and getting mad were captured through parent and teacher responses on the Child Behavior Checklist, and child responses on the Trauma Symptoms Checklist for Children. Exposure to family violence exposure was measured through both parent-report and child-report on questions related to exposure to verbal conflict, physical conflict, and conflict with weapons in the home.

Results: Almost seven percent (n=35) of children had been suspended from school one or more days. A logistic regression was run to explore the effects of each of the independent variables on the likelihood that a child had been suspended. The logistic regression model was statistically significant, X² (9) = 88.14, p<.01. Getting into fights and witnessing conflict in the home involving weapons both uniquely contributed to a child’s risk of being suspended. Structural equation modeling analyses were run to explore the indirect effects of of family violence exposure on child suspension through anger-related behaviors. The indirect effects model explained 12-34% of the variation in suspension. The indirect effects model was the best fit for the data with a close to acceptable model fit [X²(30, n=521)=68.6, RMSEA=.050, CFI=.949]. Anger had a significant, partial indirect effect on the relationship between exposure to family violence and risk of school suspension for 8 year olds in the sample.

Conclusion: This study uncovered a relationship between family violence, child anger-related behaviors, and risk of suspension for young children. These findings have implications for understanding the risks of trauma exposure on young children. As children who have been suspended are more likely to be suspended again, suspension early on in schooling places children at higher risk for future adverse outcomes. Young children exposed to family violence may be at higher risk of being suspended due to problem behaviors linked to anger, and thus may be at greater risk of adverse future outcomes without school-based preventive interventions. Future research should focus on schools and school social workers as potential points of intervention and prevention for violence-exposed youth.