PTSD Symptoms in Young Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence

Alytia A. Levendosky, G. Anne Bogat, Cecilia Martinez-Torteya

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

99 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) places infants and young children at risk for development of trauma symptoms. However, this is an understudied consequence of IPV because young children pose particular difficulties for assessment of trauma symptoms. The authors collected maternal reports on mothers' and children's posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and IPV yearly, from ages 1 to 7. Approximately half of the children exposed to IPV at each time period developed some trauma symptoms, and frequency of IPV witnessed was associated with PTSD symptoms. Maternal and child PTSD symptoms were correlated, suggesting that young children may be particularly vulnerable to relational PTSD due to their close physical and emotional relationship with their parents.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)187-201
Number of pages15
JournalViolence Against Women
Volume19
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2013
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Justice (8–7958-MI-IJ) and the Centers for Disease Control (RO1/CCR518519–01) to the first and second authors.

Copyright:
Copyright 2014 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Gender Studies
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Law

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