Exposure to IPV Among Children in the Child Welfare System and an Emotional-Behavioral Disability: The Role of Maternal Depression and Social Support

Background and Purpose: Children's exposure to parental intimate partner violence (IPV) is considered an adverse childhood experience that affects 15.5 million children annually. Extant research indicates that children’s exposure to IPV and child maltreatment are associated with mental health, behavioral, and academic problems. This study explores the relationship between children’s exposure to IPV and an emotional-behavioral disability (EBD) among children involved in the child welfare system for suspected maltreatment. It specifically examines how children’s trauma symptoms, maternal depression, and maternal social support may impact the relationship between exposure to IPV and EBD.

Methods: The current study uses second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Wellbeing data and is guided by the developmental psychopathology framework and trauma theory. The sample for the current study utilizes Wave 1 data and includes children (ages 8-17) involved in the child welfare system living at home (n=814). A total of 39.6% of children were White, 30.9% Latinx, 22% African American, and 7.6% were from other races. There were slightly more males than females in the sample (54.3% vs. 45.7%). Over three-fourths of the maltreatment cases were unsubstantiated (77.8%). All analyses were conducted using weighted data. Path analysis was employed to examine the moderated mediation effect of maternal depression and social support on the relationship between exposure to IPV and child trauma symptoms on the development of EBD. Additionally, maternal depression and social support were tested as moderators on the direct and indirect relationship between exposure to IPV and EBD.

Results: A total of 6.9% of children were diagnosed with EBD. Mothers reported an average of 4.17 (SD=19.31) IPV incidents. Five percent of mothers met the criteria for a major depressive episode. The mean number of trauma symptoms reported by children was 8.73 (SD=6.29). Eighty one percent of mothers reported high social support. Children’s trauma symptoms mediated the relationship between IPV exposure and EBD in an unexpected direction. Children with mothers with depression reported fewer trauma symptoms (b­= -.15, p=.03) were less likely to have EBD (OR=.86, p =.03). Children’s trauma symptoms were positively related to EBD (b=.04, p=.01). Contrary to the hypothesis, exposure to IPV was not significantly related to children’s trauma symptoms (b=.-.004, p= .36) or EBD (b=-.01, p=.11); thus, moderated mediation was not present. However, maternal social support was significantly related to EBD (b=-.03, p=.01) indicating children with mothers with higher levels of social support were less likely to have EBD.

Conclusion and Implications: The current study highlights the relationship between children’s trauma symptoms and EBD among children in the child welfare system. The study provides preliminary evidence for maternal social support as a protective factor for children developing EBD. Future research should focus on longitudinal research that could provide insight into causal relationships. Including children not involved in the child welfare system would increase generalizability of the findings. It is imperative that schools are equipped to support children with trauma symptoms or have the necessary information to provide resources to families and that there are opportunities for parent support within the school.