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Resilience Among Children Exposed to Domestic Violence: The Role of Risk and Protective Factors
Author(s) -
MartinezTorteya Cecilia,
Anne Bogat G.,
Von Eye Alexander,
Levendosky Alytia A.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01279.x
Subject(s) - temperament , psychology , developmental psychology , psychological resilience , poison control , injury prevention , human factors and ergonomics , suicide prevention , clinical psychology , domestic violence , odds , depression (economics) , odds ratio , occupational safety and health , child development , personality , medicine , logistic regression , medical emergency , social psychology , economics , macroeconomics , pathology
Individual and family characteristics that predict resilience among children exposed to domestic violence (DV) were examined. Mother–child dyads ( n = 190) were assessed when the children were 2, 3, and 4 years of age. DV‐exposed children were 3.7 times more likely than nonexposed children to develop internalizing or externalizing problems. However, 54% of DV‐exposed children maintained positive adaptation and were characterized by easy temperament (odds ratio [OR] = .39, d = .52) and nondepressed mothers (OR = 1.14, d = .07), as compared to their nonresilient counterparts. Chronic DV was associated with maternal depression, difficult child temperament, and internalizing or externalizing symptoms. Results underscore heterogeneous outcomes among DV‐exposed children and the influence of individual and family characteristics on children’s adaptation.