Risk and protective factors for children’s psychopathology in the context of domestic violence – a study using nationally representative longitudinal survey data

Background: Little is known about the causal pathways through which domestic violence affects children’s internalising, externalising and prosocial behaviours over time, and the role that risk and protective factors play in mediating and moderating direct effects.

Objective: We explored how different risk and protective factors affect children’s psychopathology in the context of domestic violence. We focused on the mother and child bond and explored if this moderates or mediates the effect of domestic violence on children’s internalising, externalising and prosocial behaviours.

Participants and Setting: A prospective longitudinal nationally representative study of children in Scotland aged 6 to 13 years (N:2554).

Methods: Multivariate logit models, moderation and mediation analysis. Results: DV exposure predicted higher internalising and externalising behaviours and lower prosocial skills (e.g. OR2.17, 95%CI 1.15-4.08 for externalising symptoms). Children with a strong mother-child bond had lower odds of internalising and externalising symptoms, and were more likely to manifest prosocial skills (OR4.14, 95%CI 3.09-5.55). We found evidence that the mother-child relationship both moderated and mediated the effect that DV exposure had on children’s internalising, externalising and prosocial scores. The mediation effect was strongest for prosocial behaviours, and strongest in cases where the abuse was less intense.

Conclusions: We show how domestic violence directly and indirectly affects children, via the mother-child relationship. We propose a model which could explain how the mother-child bond both mediates and moderates the effect of DV on children’s psychopathology. Our findings suggest mothers need support to in turn support children in the context of domestic violence.