Content uploaded by Jeffrey L Edleson
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Jeffrey L Edleson on Sep 25, 2015
Content may be subject to copyright.
Content uploaded by Jeffrey L Edleson
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Jeffrey L Edleson on Aug 26, 2015
Content may be subject to copyright.
JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE / August 1999Edleson / CHILDREN AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Socialserviceprofessionalsaremorefrequentlyidentifyingchildrenwhowitnessadultdomestic
violence as victims of that abuse. This article expands common definitions of how children wit
-
ness adult domestic violence. A totalof 31 researcharticles that met established quality criteria
wereincludedinthisreview.Avarietyofbehavioral,emotional,andcognitive-functioningprob
-
lems among children were found to be associated with exposure to domestic violence. Factors
that appear to moderate the impact of witnessing violence—such as whether the child was also
abused,childgenderandage,andthetimesincelastexposuretoviolence—wereidentified.Con
-
cerns about research methodology used in this area of research and the application of this
knowledge also are raised.
Children’s Witnessing of Adult
Domestic Violence
JEFFREY L. EDLESON
University of Minnesota
Manypeople havesuggestedthat familyviolence—at leastto thedegreeit is
observed today—is a recent phenomenon. Yet, violence between intimates
has long been a part of family life. It has been described repeatedly in relig-
iousandhistoricaldocumentsacrossmanycenturies,datingasfarbackasthe
Roman Empire (Davidson, 1977; Dobash & Dobash, 1979).Some alsohave
arguedthatcurrent levelsof familyviolence reflecta breakdowninthe moral
structure of the family (see Levine, 1986). This, too, is unlikely. Rather, as
Gordon (1988) suggests, the “ebb-and-flow pattern of concern about family
violence...suggeststhat itsincidence hasnotchanged asmuch asitsvisibil
-
ity” (p. 2).
Children whowitness violence betweenadults in their homesare only the
most recent victims to become visible. These children have been called the
“silent,” “forgotten,” and “unintended” victims of adult-to-adult domestic
violence (Elbow, 1982; Groves,Zukerman, Marans, & Cohen, 1993; Rosen
-
baum& O’Leary,1981). Studiesof archivedcase recordsfrom socialservice
and governmental agencies provide ample evidence that violence has long
occurred at levels similar to those measured today and that children are
839
Author’sNote: The author wishes to thankSusan Schechter and Andrea Bible for theirhelp
-
ful feedback provided on earlier versions of this manuscript and Jeffrey Pixler for his help in
preparation of the table.
JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE, Vol. 14 No. 8, August 1999 839-870
© 1999 Sage Publications, Inc.
frequently present during violent incidents (Edleson, 1991; Gordon, 1988;
Peterson, 1991; Pleck, 1987).
An understanding of the current literature on how children witness vio
-
lence and what developmental problems are associated with witnessing vio
-
lenceisanimportantfoundationforprogramdesignand policydevelopment.
Thisarticlefocusesonunderstandinghowwitnessingviolenceisdefined,what
weknowaboutits effectsonchildren,andhowsuchinformationmaybeused
and misused.
HOW DO CHILDREN EXPERIENCE
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?
Witnessinga violent eventis mostcommonly definedas being withinvis
-
ualrangeoftheviolenceandseeingitoccur.Forexample,witnessesareoften
portrayed as giving an “eyewitness account” of a crime. Pynoos and Eth’s
(1984)studiesofchildrenwhowitnessedthemurderofaparentreinforcethis
definition. One example they offer is,
Julie,a4-year-oldgirl,wastheonly witnesstoherdivorcedmother’sfatalstab-
bing. Several months earlier, at the time of the divorce, Julie’s father had pub-
licly threatened to kill his ex-wife....Although the father lacked an alibi for
the night ofthe crime, therewasno physical evidencelinking him tothe homi-
cide....Indescribingthe event,she(Julie)consistentlyplacedherfatherat the
scene, described significant portions of the central action, and recounted her
father’s efforts to clean up prior to leaving....Only after the district attorney
saw Julie stabbing a pillow, crying “Daddy pushed mommy down,” did he
become convinced that the father indeed was the murderer. (p. 100)
Amotherin adifferentstudy(Syers-McNairy,1990) describesherdaugh
-
ter’s involvement in a violent event this way:
As (my husband) came back in the house and went in the bedroom and got
another bullet and loaded the gun again and started to raise the gun, I really
think my daughter saved my life right then. . . . I was holding her behind me,
andshecameoutinfront of me and put her arms in the doorway like this (dem
-
onstratingwithherarms outstretched),soas heraisedthegunit camerightpast
her.And IreachedoutandItookherhandsdown,and her handsweresostrong
against that doorway. It was unbelievable the strength that was in her arms. I
got her arms down, and I turned and grabbed her in my arms and ran out the
door. (pp. 105-106)
Pynoos and Eth (1984) suggest that,
840 JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE / August 1999
Atthe core of thetrauma for the childwitness tohomicide isacontinued intru
-
sion into the child’s mind of the central action when lethal physical harm was
inflicted: the final blow with a fist, the plunge of a knife, or the blast of a shot
-
gun. (p. 91)
Most children do not witness murders of a parent. Beatings that are not
fatal, but are nonetheless brutal, are the types of events that we most com
-
monly think of when children witness adult domestic violence. Peled (1993)
provides dramatic testimony of one child witnessing such violence:
I wouldn’t say anything.I wouldjust sitthere. Watch it...Iwasjust, felt like I
wasjust sitting there, listeningto a TV show or something....It’slikeyoujust
sit there to watch it, like a tapestry, you sit there. (p. 122)
Being an “eyewitness” to a violent event is not, however, the only way
children describe their experiences. Many children describe very traumatic
events that they have not visually observed but, rather, they have heard. One
child described hearing fights this way:
I really thought somebody got hurt. It sounded like it. And I almost started to
cry. It felt really, I was thinking of calling, calling the cops or something
because it was really getting, really big banging and stuff like that. (Peled,
1993, p. 125)
In their national curriculum for child protection workers, Ganley and
Schechter (1996) highlight several additional ways that children experience
adult domesticviolence. These includehitting or threatening achild while in
hisor hermother’s arms,taking thechild hostageto forcethe mother’sreturn
tothehome,usingachildas aphysicalweaponagainstthevictim,forcingthe
child to watch assaults against the mother or to participate in the abuse, and
using the child as aspy or interrogating him or her aboutthe mother’s activi
-
ties. Children also are frequently told by abusive fathers that their families
would be together were it not for their mother’s behavior, thus attempting to
put pressure on the mother through the children to return to him or driving a
wedge between the mother and her children.
In addition to seeing, hearing, or being used in a direct event of violence,
some mothers and their children describe the aftermath of a violent event as
havinga traumaticeffecton them.Theaftermath canincludea motherwhois
injuredandinneedofhelp,afatherwhoalternatesbetweenphysicalviolence
and loving care, police intervention to remove a father from the home, or
movingtoashelter forbattered women.Onemother,inher accounttoSyers-
McNairy (1990), stated,
Edleson / CHILDREN AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 841
It finally started to dawn on me that I was not the only person involved in it
when I left on the ambulance. They were so scared. And I thought, they don’t
really have a dad....Andnowthey’renotgoing to have a mom? (p. 118)
Anydefinition of witnessing violence must include all of these various ways
in which children experience a violent event. Children may see the violence
or be used as a part of it, but more often they may hear the violent event and
experience its aftermath.
HOW OFTEN DO CHILDREN
WITNESS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?
Prevalence of Witnessing Violence
Estimates vary of the number of children or teenagers who witness one
parent abusing another. The two most widely cited statistics are those devel-
oped by Carlson (1984) and Straus (1992). Carlsonestimated that“at least3.3
million children yearly are at risk of exposure to parental violence” (p. 160).
Her estimate is derived from earlier studies that found approximately 3 mil-
lion American households experience at least one incident of serious vio-
lence each year (Straus, Gelles, & Steinmetz, 1980). Carlson adjusted this
findingforthe estimatednumberofhouseholdswith children(55%) andthen
multiplied by the average number of children per household (two). Carlson
arguesthat her estimate is likelyto be very low forseveral reasons. First, this
numberonlyincludesexposuretoseriousviolence,definedasviolencelikely
to cause injury. Second, the Straus et al. study on which Carlson’s estimates
arebasedexcludedfamilieswith childrenunder 3years ofage andfamiliesin
whichtheparents wereseparated or divorcedbutwhere violence stillmay be
occurring. Finally, Carlson notes that violence may be somewhat higher in
families with fewer economic resources, which also—on average—tend to
be larger families.
Straus (1992) has estimated that there may be as manyas 10 million teen
-
agers exposed to parental violence each year. His estimates resulted from a
survey(seeStraus& Gelles,1990)inwhichadults wereasked“whether,dur
-
ing their teenage years, their father had hit their mother and howoften” (p. 98)
andviceversaforthemother.Strausfoundthataboutoneineightor12.6%of
the samplerecalled such an incident,with 50% remembering theirfather hit
-
ting their mother, 19% recalling the reverse, and 31% recalling both hitting
the other. Adults recalled an average of 8.9 such violent incidents, with a
median of four events.
842 JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE / August 1999
Straus (1992) goes on to estimate that “at least a third of American chil
-
dren have witnessed violence between their parents, and most have endured
repeatedinstances”(p. 98).He bases thisevenlargerestimate onthe factthat
in his and Gelles’s (1990) national survey, 30% of parents who admitted the
existenceofadultdomesticviolenceintheirhomereportedthattheirchildren
hadwitnessedatleastoneviolentincidentoverthedurationofthemarriage.
These findings are supported by two other large studies. Fantuzzo,
Boruch, Abdullahi, Atkins, and Marcus’s (1997) secondary analysis of
police arrest data from five U.S. cities found that children were directly
involved in adult domestic violence incidents from 9% to 27% of the time
(depending on the city studied) and that younger children were dispropor
-
tionately represented in households where domestic assaults occurred. Even
higher rates of exposure were recorded in Silvern et al.’s (1995) study of 550
college students, which found that 118 (41.1%) of the 287 women and 85
(32.3%) of the 263 men studied had witnessed abuse by one parent against
the other.
Anationalsurveydirectlyfocusedonchildren’sexposuretodomesticvio-
lenceis badly needed.In themeantime, regardlessof theway theseestimates
of children’s exposure are derived, it is clear that large numbers of children
are exposed to violence between their parents. It is also likely that this expo-
sure occurs more than once and may be present over the course of a child’s
development.
Discrepancies in Reports
One problem in accurately estimating prevalence or incidence is the
dependence on reports ofparents or other adults about children’s witnessing
of violence. There is a belief among some parents that their children are
shielded from exposure to the violence. Jaffe, Wolfe, and Wilson (1990)
report that many of the parents with whom they have worked believed their
children did not “witness” an event, because they were sleeping or playing
outside. For example, one mother was quoted as follows:
Asfaras Martin actually witnessing abusetowardme, a lot of theabusetoward
me was eitherdone when thekids were in bed orit was verbalabuse....Itried
to keep as muchof it awayfrom thekids. I triedto be therole model ofthe per
-
fect wife and mother as long as they were awake. (Peled, 1993, p. 86)
Jaffeet al. (1990) found, however,that children often providedetailed recol
-
lectionsofthe veryeventstheywerenotsupposed tohavewitnessed.Reports
by children and by adults of theirchildhoodexperiences suggest that parents
Edleson / CHILDREN AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 843
mayseverelyunderestimate thedegreeto whichtheir childrenare exposedto
the violence. For example, O’Brien, John, Margolin, and Erel (1994) found
thatonein fourof the childrenin a community-basedsample reportedseeing
violence used by one parent against another. More than three fourths (78%)
of these children reported seeing violence used by fathers against mothers
when at least one parent reported that no violence occurred or that their chil
-
dren had not seen such events.
WITNESSING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
There isa growingbody of literaturethat has examinedthe child develop
-
ment problems associated with witnessing varied forms of violence, includ
-
ing relationship discord (Grych & Fincham, 1990; Wallerstein, 1991), com
-
munityviolenceand war(Garbarino, Dubrow,Kostelny,&Pardo,1992),and
violence portrayed in the media (Paik & Comstock, 1994). This section,
although recognizing these related areas of inquiry, focuses solely on the
short- and long-term problems that appear to be associated with children’s
witnessingof adult-to-adult domesticviolence. Adult-to-adultdomestic vio-
lence is defined here as “an act carried out with the intention, or perceived
intention, of causing physical pain or injury” (Straus, 1990, p. 76), in this
case, to another adult in the household. Witnessing, as defined earlier,
includes multiple ways in which a child is exposed to adult domestic vio-
lence,including directlyviewingtheviolence, hearingit,being usedas atool
of the perpetrator, and experiencing the aftermath of violence.
Eighty-four studies that report associations betweenwitnessing domestic
violence and child development problems were identified. Several authors
have produced partial reviews of this literature (see Fantuzzo & Lindquist,
1989; Holtzworth-Munroe, Smutzler, & Sandin, 1997; Jaffe & Suderman,
1995; Kashani, Daniel, Dandoy, & Holcomb, 1992; Kolbo, Blakely, &
Engleman, 1996;Margolin, 1998;Peled & Davis,1995). The purposeof this
andtheconcluding sectionis to expand onthese earlierreviews withthe goal
of pointing to (a) some clear trends in the types of child development prob
-
lems associated with exposure to adult domestic violence, (b) some of the
significant weaknesses and gaps in current research, and (c) the ways in
which such information may be used or misused.
Interpreting this literature raised several problems, based on the research
methods applied. First, a significant problem is that many researchers have
failed to differentiate abused children from those who are not themselves
abusedbutwhodo witness domestic violence.Many studiesappear to attrib
-
ute childproblems to the“effects ofwitnessing violence,” when, infact, they
844 JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE / August 1999
maybemorestronglyassociatedwithhavingbeenadirectvictimofabuse.In
an extreme example, Kolbo (1996) notes that, of the 60 child witnesses he
studied at a nonshelterdomestic violence program, all but two were also tar
-
gets of violence, but the author focused on the effects of child witnessing of
violence. As Silvern et al. (1995) have stated, “the relationship between
reportedpartnerand childabuse shouldwarnthatresearch couldbe flawedif
it is assumed that shelter samples of children have been exposed solely to
partner abuse” (p. 195).
A second issue is that most studies so far published draw on samples of
children and their mothers who are located in shelters for battered women.
Although this research generates very important information for shelter-
based programs, residing inshelters may be a verystressfulpoint in a child’s
lifeandnot representativeofhis orhermentalhealthinthe longrun.Notonly
have shelter-resident children most likely witnessed a recent violent event,
they have also been removed from the familiar surroundings of their homes,
neighborhoods, and often their schools.
Finally, almost all studies have relied exclusively on mothers’ reports of
their children’s problems. Studies of reports in other forms of maltreatment
reveal discrepancies between child, parent, clinician, and agency ratings of
problems. Child witnesses, for example, have been found to differ from par-
entsonthe problemstheyreporttoresearchers (Hughes,Parkinson,& Vargo,
1989; Sternberg, Lamb, & Dawud-Noursi, 1998).
Studiesincludedinthisreviewwereevaluatedasmeetingfourcriteriathat
address some of the methodological problems just raised. First, studies must
have clearly identified and measured physical conflict separate from other
formsofmaritalconflict.Allofthe84studieswereselectedtomeetthiscrite
-
rion. Second, to be included, a study must have clearly identified and sepa
-
rated physically abused children from those who “only” witnessed adult
domestic violence or from those who neither witnessed abuse nor were
abused themselves. A large number of well-designed studies—31 in
all—were eliminated because they did not separate or control for direct vic
-
timization of the children studied. Third, the studies must have employed a
researchdesignthat(a)compared groupsofchildrenwhowitnessed violence
withothers;(b)examineddifferencesbetweenchildren,basedonsuchdemo
-
graphic characteristicsasage, gender, orrace;(c) statistically compared par
-
ticipants along a constructed continuum of violence exposure; or (d) applied
accepted qualitative methods of study. Fourth, studies must have clearly
described the sample studied and the measurement procedures employed.
Another22studieswereeliminatedfornotmeetingtheseadditionalcriteria.
Out of 84 studies originally identified, 31 studies met all of these criteria,
with 18 studies being those that compared children who witnessed adult
Edleson / CHILDREN AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 845
domestic violence to other groups of children. Another 12 studies did not
separate children into comparison groups but, rather, used multiple regres
-
sionprocedures tocompare subjectsalong acontinuum ofviolence exposure
or by demographic characteristics. Finally, one applied rigorous qualitative
research methodology and was included in the review. Table 1 presents an
overview of the studies reviewed. The subsections below present a selective
overview of the findings from these studies.
Children’s Problems Associated
with Witnessing Violence
Reviewedstudies report a series of childhood problems statistically asso
-
ciatedwith achild’switnessing ofdomestic violence.These problemscanbe
grouped into the two major categories examining problems associated with
recent witnessing of domestic violence: (a) behavioral and emotional func-
tioning and (b) cognitive functioning and attitudes. A third category of asso-
ciated problems cuts across the other two and provides evidence of longer-
term development issues for child witnesses. Each of these categories of
problems is reviewed in more detail below.
Behavioral and emotional functioning. The area in which there is proba-
bly the greatestamount of information on problems associatedwith witness-
ing adult domestic violence is in the area of children’s behavioral and emo-
tional functioning. Generally, studies using the Child Behavior Checklist
(CBCL; Achenbach&Edelbrock, 1983)and similarmeasures havefound that
child witnesses of domestic violence exhibit more aggressive and antisocial
(often called “externalized” behaviors) as well as fearful and inhibited behav
-
iors(“internalized”behaviors)(Fantuzzoetal.,1991;Hughes,1988;Hugheset
al., 1989) and show lower social competence than other children (Adamson &
Thompson, 1998; Fantuzzo et al., 1991). Children who witnessed violence
also were found to show more anxiety, depression, trauma symptoms, and
temperament problems than children who did not witness violence at home
(Hughes, 1988; Maker, Kemmelmeier, & Peterson, 1998; Sternberg et al.,
1993).
Overall,these studiesindicate aconsistent findingacross varioussamples
and differing methodologies that child witnesses of domestic violence
exhibitahostofbehavioralandemotionalproblems,whencomparedtoother
children.A fewstudieshavereported findingno differencesonsomeofthese
same measures (Mathias, Mertin, & Murray, 1995; Spaccarelli, Sandler, &
Roosa, 1994).Oneproblem in this domain ofthe research is the overreliance
846 JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE / August 1999
(text continues on p. 860)
TABLE 1: Summary of Studies Reviewed, Grouped by Type of Study
Comparison Group Studies
Author/Year Sample Measures Results
Adamson & Thomp-
son (1998)
112 children from 5.5 to 12 years of age;
40 who witnessed and 72 who did not.
Abused children were screened out of
study.
Children responded to four audiotaped
vignettes that were later coded.
Child witnesses were less likely to use
direct problem solving and more likely to
use aggression to cope with conflict.
Carlson (1991) 101 children from 13 to 18 years old; 50
who had been witnesses and abused, 6
who had only been abused, 12 who had
only witnessed, and 25 who had experi-
enced neither.
Teens were interviewed about quality of
peer relationships, depression, anxiety,
self-esteem, and self-destructive tenden-
cies. They were also presented with three
brief scenarios to which they responded.
Combined effects of being abused and
witnessing violence on a teen’s well-
being were greater than either abuse or
witnessing only, and teens who were
either abused or witnessed violence
showed greater problems compared to
those who were not exposed to violence.
Fantuzzo et al. (1991) 107 children from 3.5 to 6.4 years old in
four groups: exposed to verbal/physical
abuse and living at home, exposed to ver-
bal/physical abuse and living in shelters,
exposed to verbal abuse only and living at
home, living at home and not exposed to
either form of abuse.
Mothers completed a family information
form, the CTS, and the CBCL. Children
completed the Pictorial Scale of Per-
ceived Competence and Social Accep-
tance for young children.
Found that different levels of exposure
and place of residence were associated
with several child problems. Most
affected were those who were exposed to
verbal conflict and battering and were liv-
ing in a shelter at time of study.
847
(continued)
TABLE 1 Continued
Comparison Group Studies
Author/Year Sample Measures Results
848
Henning, Leitenberg,
Coffey, Turner, &
Bennett (1996)
617 adult women randomly selected as
part of a larger study on women’s trauma
experiences; 123 reported witnessing vio-
lence as a child and 494 did not.
Women completed questions regarding
SES, parental caring, physical aggression
scale of CTS for conflict between their
parents before they were age 16, the Brief
Symptom Inventory, and the Social Provi-
sions Scale.
Women who witnessed domestic violence
were found to have more psychological
and social adjustment problems in adult-
hood. However, when abuse as a child,
witnessing adult verbal abuse, and low
parental caring were controlled for, there
was no added effect for witnessing vio-
lence. Women who had witnessed fathers
or both parents use violence were shown
to have more problems than nonwit-
nesses. Women who witnessed only
mother’s use of violence showed no dif-
ferences from nonwitnesses.
Hughes (1988) 40 child witnesses and 55 children who
had been abused and witnesses were
compared with 83 children recruited
through the local media and from similar
socioeconomic backgrounds. Ages
ranged from 3 to 12 years.
Parent and child reports included Eyberg
CBI, Revised Children’s Manifest Anxi-
ety Scale, McDaniel-Piers Young Chil-
dren’s Self-Concepts, Piers-Harris Chil-
dren’s Self-Concept Scale, CDI.
Child witnesses exhibited higher levels of
behavior problems than the comparison
children, however these were only signifi-
cantly different if the witnesses were also
reported abused. Mothers indicated pre-
school abused-witnesses children experi-
enced more difficulty than any other
group of children.
849
(continued)
Hughes & Luke
(1998)
58 mothers and their oldest child residing
in a shelter for battered women partici-
pated. Children ranged in age from 6 to
12 years. Fifty percent of sheltered chil-
dren had also been abused.
Multiple measures were collected, includ-
ing the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory,
CBCL, CDI, Revised Children’s Manifest
Anxiety Scale, Piers-Harris Children’s
Self-Concept Scale, McDaniel-Pier
Young Children’s Self-Concept Scale,
CTS-Husband-Wife Form, BDI, and
Self-Trait Anxiety Inventory.
Sixty percent of the children were found
to be in the not-distressed or very-
mildly-distressed groups; 40% found in
the clusters indicated difficulties.
Hughes, Parkinson, &
Vargo (1989)
In 37 families there were 44 children who
witnessed violence and 40 children had
witnessed violence and were abused
themselves. Forty-five comparison fami-
lies of similar socioeconomic background
with 66 children were also recruited.
Child ages ranged from 4 to 12 years.
Mother and child reports on the CTS,
CBCL, Social Competence Scale,
Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety
Scale, CDI.
Abused-witness children report function-
ing less well than comparison group chil-
dren. Middle and older school-age chil-
dren in both of the shelter groups were
reported to have the greatest adjustment
difficulties. These same children did not
report themselves to be distressed.
Maker, Kemmelmeir,
& Peterson (1998)
126 women from community colleges, of
which 85 reported having never wit-
nessed violence in family of origin, 31
witnessed any number of moderate acts
of violence; 10 witnessed severe violence
plus any number of acts of moderate vio-
lence.
Women completed CTS, answered ques-
tions regarding acts of violence before the
age of 16, suicidal behaviors, parental
drug use, sexual abuse, and completed the
following measures: Trauma Symptom
Checklist, BDI, Antisocial Behavior
Checklist, Short Michigan Alcoholism
Screening Test (MAST).
Witnesses of marital violence exhibited
negative long-term adjustment, experi-
enced more violence in dating relation-
ships, showed higher levels of antisocial
behaviors, were more depressed, and
showed a greater number of trauma
symptoms than those who had not wit-
nessed violence.
TABLE 1 Continued
Comparison Group Studies
Author/Year Sample Measures Results
850
Mathias, Mertin, &
Murray (1995)
Two-phased sample in Australia: (a) 79
children aged 6 to 12 years of 52 mothers
who had recently resided in battered
women’s shelters (45 children both wit-
nessed and were abused, 18 only wit-
nessed, 11 were abused but not witnesses,
and 5 neither witnessed nor were abused)
and (b) 22 of these children matched with
control group of 22 children who had not
witnessed domestic violence.
Mothers and children completed a battery
of measures that included the CBCL,
Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales,
Neale Analysis of Reading Ability,
Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety
Scale, Children’s Action Tendency Scale,
Adapted CTS, and a Background Ques-
tionnaire.
Child witnesses were not shown to differ
from nonwitnesses in the group of chil-
dren who had resided in a shelter. Chil-
dren who were involved in the violence
did show statistically higher levels of
problems. In phase two, children witness-
ing violence were significantly different
in terms of behavior problems, social
competence, and the tendency to choose
aggressive response when compared to
children from nonviolent families. No dif-
ferences were found in anxiety levels.
McCloskey,
Figueredo, & Koss
(1995)
166 abused women and one of their chil-
dren between the ages of 6 and 12 years.
A community comparison group of 199
women and their children. (Authors noted
high level of physical aggression among
controls.)
Mothers and target children participated
in 2- to 3-hour interviews that included
CBCL, Child Assessment Schedule, Brief
Symptom Inventory, Parent Perception
Inventory, Parental Authority Question-
naire, Graham-Berman’s Brother Sister
Questionnaire, and the CTS.
Violence appeared to directly influence
children’s mental health, as reported by
the mothers. Families in which mothers
were abused were less supportive and
when support occurred it appeared to fail
to buffer the child.
Miller, Handal, Gil-
ner, & Cross (1991)
Of 254 Black adolescent high school stu-
dents ranging in age from 14 to 19 years,
108 reported witnessing violence, 12
reported sexual abuse, 8 reported physical
abuse, and 4 reported physical and sexual
abuse, whereas 214 reported no history of
any of these events.
Child Abuse Potential Inventory and
demographic questions administered to
the students.
Adolescents with a history of both abuse
and witnessing violence showed signifi-
cantly higher scores on the CAP when
compared to either the witnessing-only
group or those who neither witnessed nor
were abused. Adolescents who witnessed
violence scored significantly higher on
the CAP than those who had neither wit-
nessed nor been abused.
Moore & Pepler
(1998)
113 children of mothers residing in shel-
ters for battered women compared to 100
children from two-parent, nonviolent
households. Forty percent of the children
who witnessed violence also reported
being physically abused. Child ages
ranged from 6 to 12 years.
Individual and conjoint interviews with
the mother and children eliciting demo-
graphic data and in which CTS, General
Health Questionnaire, CBCL, Wide
Range Achievement Test, Digit Span
(WISC-R), Children’s Locus of Control
Scale were completed.
No interaction effects were found
between witness-only and witness-abused
groups. Mothers’behaviors and mental
health played a key role in their chil-
dren’s adjustment. Mothers’reports of
using verbal aggression in conflict with
their children accounted for the most
variance in the prediction of children’s
adjustment problems. Some mothers,
despite horrific abuse, maintained posi-
tive parenting strategies with their chil-
dren and these children were likely to be
the best adjusted in the sample of at-risk
families. Father-child relationships were
not measured.
851
(continued)
TABLE 1 Continued
Comparison Group Studies
Author/Year Sample Measures Results
852
O’Keefe (1995) 184 children from 120 families living in
shelters for battered women; 64 of whom
were identified as having both witnessed
adult domestic violence and themselves
been abused compared to 120 identified
as having only witnessed adult violence.
Mothers and children completed a variety
of measures, including the CBCL, CTS,
an item on the quality of the parent-child
relationship, Marital Adjustment Test,
questions concerning alcohol and drug
use, and the Emotionality Activity Socia-
bility Temperament Survey. Data on fam-
ily size, socioeconomic status, and formal
and informal supports to the family were
also collected.
Children who witnessed abuse and were
themselves reported to be abused showed
highest levels of problems, scoring sig-
nificantly higher than children who only
witnessed violence. Children only
exposed to violence also exhibited ele-
vated scores for internalizing and exter-
nalizing behavioral problems. No signifi-
cant gender effects were found.
Rossman (1998) 400 children, aged 4 to 13 years, from
families representing a range of marital
discord from mild verbal arguing to
severe and repeated marital violence
divided into four groups of children com-
ing from (a) nonabusive, nonviolent
homes; (b) homes with “low-level”
parental violence; (c) shelters and who
had witnessed abuse; and (d) shelters and
who had witnessed and been abused.
Children and mostly mother reports on
the CAP Inventory, Conflict Tactics
Scales, demographic questions, the Life
Events Questionnaire, CBCL, Peabody
Picture Vocabulary Test. Child abuse
reports filed with local child protection
were also collected.
Data supported greater risk for children
both exposed to adult domestic violence
and also victims when compared to chil-
dren only exposed to domestic violence.
In general, exposed children exhibited
higher levels of PTSD symptoms and
somewhat poorer cognitive functioning
(observed mainly in the younger chil-
dren). PTSD symptoms appeared to be a
moderator of behavior problems and cog-
nitive functioning contributing to social
and school performance.
853
(continued)
Spaccarelli,
Coatsworth, & Bow-
den (1995)
213 male adolescents divided into four
groups: “violent offenders,” “undetected
violent offenders,” “deniers,” and “con-
trol delinquents.”
Self-administered interview included
self-reports of delinquent behaviors and
arrest records, a history of violent acts
using the CTS, reports of self-
competency and completion of the Atti-
tudes Toward Aggression Scale, and the
Children’s Coping Strategies Checklist.
Results indicated that physical abuse and
inter-adult weapons use at home were in-
dependently and together able to predict a
youth’s level of risk for committing acts
of serious violence. Serious violent
offenders were much more likely to
report exposure to serious physical vio-
lence and interadult weapons use. Delin-
quents exposed to serious violence were
found less competent than nonexposed
youth in peer relationships, self-control,
and autonomy.
Sternberg et al. (1993) 110 Israeli children aged 8 to 12 years
and their parents. Sample was divide into
four groups: (a) 33 abused children, (b)
16 children who only witnessed adult
domestic violence, (c) 30 children who
were both abused and had witnessed vio-
lence, and (d) a comparison group of 31
children who had neither witnessed nor
been abused.
Children completed the Childhood
Depression Inventory and Youth Self-
Report measures. Parents completed the
CBCL.
Abused children and those who were
abused and witnessed violence were more
likely than children in the comparison
group to report depressive symptoms as
well as be reported by parents to exhibit
internalizing and externalizing behavior
problems. Results suggested that the
physically abused children were most at
risk for clinical depression. Children who
witnessed did not report as many adjust-
ment problems as abused or abused-
witness children.
TABLE 1 Continued
Comparison Group Studies
Author/Year Sample Measures Results
854
Sternberg et al. (1994) Same sample as Sternberg et al. (1993)
(see above).
Children completed the Family Relations
Test.
Abused and abused-witness groups had
more negative perceptions of their abu-
sive fathers. Children in the three
violence-exposure groups assigned more
negative items to their abusive mothers
than children in the comparison group.
When fathers were sole perpetrators the
discrepancy between number of negative
items assigned to fathers and nonperpe-
trating mothers was much greater than
the discrepancies in the comparison
group.
Wolfe, Zak, Wilson,
& Jaffe (1986)
63 children ages 4 to 13 years and their
mothers into three groups: (a) 23 children
witnessed violence 6 months or more
prior to study, (b) 17 children witnessed
violence within 6 weeks prior, and (c) 23
children were never exposed to violence.
Mothers completed CBCL, General
Health Questionnaire, Life Experiences
Survey, CTS, and provided socioeco-
nomic information.
Time since violent event seemed impor-
tant in predicting the degree to which
children exhibited behavior problems.
Children recently exposed to violence
showed significantly more behavior prob-
lems than others.
855
(continued)
Correlation Studies
Author/Year Sample Measures Results
Jouriles & Norwood
(1995)
48 families experiencing marital violence
and families with at least two children
(one son and one daughter between the
ages of 4 and 14 years).
Mothers completed CTS, Parent-Child
CTS, and CBCL. Children older than 8
years completed Parent-Child CTS.
Indexes of parental physical aggression
toward children were included in
analyses.
Results indicate that aggression toward
children correlated positively with both
boys’and girls’ externalizing behavior
problems. Boys exhibited greater levels
of externalizing behavior problems.
O’Keefe (1994a) 121 battered women and 185 of their
children residing in battered women’s
shelters. Children were ages 7 to 13
years. (Likely same data set as O’Keefe,
1994b, c, and 1995, despite discrepancies
in number of families/women.)
Mothers completed the CTS, Index A of
the Parent-Child CTS, Short Marital
Adjustment Test, Family Adaptability
and Cohesion Evaluation Scales, CBCL,
and self-reported for alcohol/drug abuse,
formal and informal social support and
SES. Self-Perception Profile for Children
also was completed.
Thirty-five percent of the children were
reported to have been abused during the
year prior to the study. Children experi-
enced significant internalizing and exter-
nalizing behavior problems when com-
pared to normative populations. African
American children scored significantly
higher on the social competence scales
than the White or Hispanic children.
TABLE 1 Continued
Correlation Studies
Author/Year Sample Measures Results
856
O’Keefe (1994b) 121 battered women and 185 of their
children residing in battered women’s
shelters. Children were ages 7 to 13
years.
Children and mothers participated in
interviews. EAS Temperament Survey,
Self-Perception Profile, CBCL, School
Scale of the Social Competence Scale,
CTS, CTS Parent-Child version, Hudson
Parent-Child Relationship Scale, Short
MAT, FACES III, a social support mea-
sure, and information on family size,
alcohol/drug abuse, SES, and school per-
formance were gathered.
No significant differences found between
racial and ethnic groups on externalizing
or internalizing behavior, but levels were
escalated compared to normative sam-
ples. Domestic violence, alcohol and drug
use, and child abuse were all unrelated to
racial and ethnic identity.
O’Keefe (1994c) 120 families with 185 children who were
residing in shelters for battered women.
(Likely same data set as O’Keefe, 1994a,
b, and 1995, despite discrepancies in
number of families/women.)
Children and mothers participated in
interviews. EAS Temperament Survey,
Self-Perception Profile, CBCL Social
Competence scale, School Scale of the
Social Competence Scale, CTS, CTS
Parent-Child version, Hudson Parent-
Child Relationship Scale, Short MAT,
FACES III, Life Event Scale and infor-
mation on family size, alcohol/drug
abuse, SES, and school performance were
gathered.
More than 21% had externalized prob-
lems of such severity that they fell within
the 98th percentile of severe disturbance.
Fully 31% scored in the 98th percentile
on internalized problems. Boys and girls
displayed elevated scores on both exter-
nalizing and internalizing behavior prob-
lems. For boys, the amount of violence
witnessed was a better predictor for
behavior problems than parent-child
aggression. For girls, the amount of
mother-child aggression as well as
amount of violence witnessed predicted
externalizing but not internalizing behav-
ior problems.
857
(continued)
O’Keefe (1996) 935 high school students ages 14 to 20
years.
Students completed Youth Self-Report
Summary, Modified CTS and CTS
Parent-Child measures, and provided SES
information.
The impact of parent-child violence and
of witnessing violence on a child’s
adjustment were inversely related. As
parent-child violence increased, the effect
of witnessing violence became negligible.
As parent-child violence decreased, the
effect of witnessing violence increased.
O’Keefe & Sela-Amit
(in press)
899 high school students ages 14 to 19
years from diverse backgrounds.
Twenty-five percent of all respondents
reported they had been kicked, bit, or hit
with a fist by a parent and approximately
15% reported that a parent had beaten
them up. Over half reported witnessing
some form of inter-parental violence.
(Same sample as O’Keefe, 1996, despite
discrepancies.)
Students completed a Modified CTS-
Parent-Child and CTS questions adapted
to measure witnessing of adult domestic,
school, and community violence, and an
SES measure.
Negligible differences were found
between racial/ethnic groups on exposure
to violence, although overall students
showed much higher exposure to violence
when compared to national surveys.
Silvern et al. (1995) 550 undergraduate students with 287
women and 263 men.
Students completed a demographic ques-
tionnaire, an adapted 17-item CTS
focused on witnessing parents’behavior
and CTS Parent-Child form, Finkelhor’s
Child Sexual Abuse Survey, a single item
on parental alcohol abuse, BDI, Trauma
Symptom Checklist (TSC), Coopersmith
Self-Esteem Inventory.
Witnessing violence appeared to be sig-
nificantly associated to several adult
problems among both men and women.
However, when controlling for abuse as a
child, the effects of witnessing
approached but did not reach significance
for both men and women.
TABLE 1 Continued
Correlation Studies
Author/Year Sample Measures Results
858
Singer, Anglin, Song,
& Lunghofer (1995)
At total of 3,735 high school students
ranging in age from 14 to 19 years. The
sample was 52% female and 48% male.
Students provided demographic informa-
tion and completed a recent violent
behavior survey (had the student engaged
in six different violent behaviors in the
past year), a recent and past exposure to
violence survey, sexual abuse/assault
questions, and the TSC.
Having been a recent witness or victim of
home violence was strongly associated
with total TSC scores and with four
subscale scores: anxiety, dissociation,
stress, and depression. Exposure to vio-
lence at home was consistently greater
for females than males.
Singer, Miller, Guo,
Slovak, & Frierson
(1998)
A total of 2,245 third- to eighth graders,
ages 7 to 15 years from somewhat diverse
backgrounds (33% African American,
57% White, 5% Hispanic).
Singer’s Life Experiences Survey, which
measures children’s (a) exposure to vio-
lence in the home, school and neighbor-
hood settings; (b) incidence of self-
reported violent behaviors; (c) effect of
violence; (d) exposure to violence &
aggressive predatory behaviors; (e)
parental monitoring related to violence
exposure; and (f) TV viewing and aggres-
sive behaviors.
Violence exposure was strongly related to
symptoms of psychological distress. Chil-
dren who were highly monitored tended
to be exposed less to violence and com-
mit fewer acts of violence. Recent victim
or witness of violence at home was a sig-
nificant factor in predicting use of violent
behaviors.
Song, Singer, &
Anglin (1998)
A total of 3,735 high school students
ranging in age from 14 to 19 years. The
sample was 52% female and 48% male.
(Same sample as Singer et al., 1995.)
Students provided demographic informa-
tion and completed a recent violent
behavior survey (had the student engaged
in six different violent behaviors in the
past year), a recent and past exposure to
violence survey, sexual abuse/assault
questions, and the Trauma Symptom
Checklist for Children.
For girls, exposure to a knife attack,
being a victim or witness of home vio-
lence, and being a victim of violence at
school were significantly associated with
use of violent behaviors. Being a victim
or witness of violence at home was not a
predictor of violent behavior for boys.
NOTE:BDI=Beck Depression Inventory;CAP =ChildAbusePotentialInventory;CBI=ChildBehaviorInventory;CBCL=ChildBehaviorChecklist;CDI
=Childhood Depression Inventory;CTS=Conflict TacticsScale;FACES=FamilyAdaptabilityandCohesion EvaluationScales;MAT=MaritalAdjustment
Test; PTSD = Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
859
Spaccarelli, Sandler,
& Roosa (1994)
303 fourth- to sixth-grade children and
their mothers.
Mothers reported on history of physical
violence against themselves, various
demographic variables, Diagnostic Inter-
view Schedule, and Short MAST. Chil-
dren self-reported on the CDI, Youth
Hostility Scale of the DBCL, and the
Self-Perception Profile for Children.
Parental reports on the CBCL also
obtained for each child.
Child abuse investigations were not asso-
ciated with the presence of violence
against women in this sample. Violence
against the mother was only found to be
significantly associated with girls’self-
reported conduct problems. Violence
against the mother accounted for only
limited variance in adjustment among
children.
Stagg, Wills, & How-
ell (1989)
26 children between 4 and 6 years old
and their mothers.
Mothers provided child intake informa-
tion upon entrance to a shelter for bat-
tered women and completed the CBCL.
Only three children were reported to have
been physically abused and witnesses of
domestic violence. These children’s
scores were 1.5 standard deviations above
nonabused witnesses in the sample.
Qualitative Studies
Peled (1993, 1998) 14 preadolescent children of 12 battered
mothers.
Three to 6 semi-structured interviews
with each child with an average of 4
1-hour interviews per child. Mothers
were interviewed one time.
Children moved through five phases in
their experience of adult domestic vio-
lence: (a) living with ordinary fights, (b)
witnessing violent events, (c) challenged
by mother’s public confrontation of the
violence, (d) adjusting to new realities in
the long-term aftermath of violence, and
(e) when violence becomes history.
on the Child Behavior Checklist. This measure is a rough gauge of general
functioning but was not developed to tap the unique impacts of witnessing
violence. Development and use of more sensitive measures of exposure and
its impact are badly needed.
A common question asked is whether children exposed to domestic vio
-
lence go on to commit more violence when compared to other children.
Sociallearningtheorywouldsuggestthatchildrenwho witnessviolencealso
might learn to use it. Several researchers have attempted to look at this link
between exposure to domestic violence and subsequent use of it. Some sup
-
port for this hypothesis has been found. For example, Singer, Miller, Guo,
Slovak, and Frierson (1998) studied 2,245 children and teenagers and found
that recent exposure to violence in the home was a significant factor in pre
-
dicting a child’s violent behavior.
Cognitive functioning and attitudes. A number of studies have measured
theassociation betweencognitivedevelopmentproblemsand witnessingdo-
mestic violence. Although academic abilities were not found to differ be-
tween witnesses and other children (Mathias et al., 1995), another study
foundincreased violence exposureassociated withlowercognitivefunction-
ing (Rossman, 1998).
Oneconsequence of witnessingviolence maybe theattitudesa childdevel-
ops concerning the use of violence and conflict resolution. Jaffe, Wilson, and
Wolfe (1986) suggest that children’s exposure to adult domestic violence
may generate attitudes justifying their own use of violence. Spaccarell, Coat-
worth, and Bowden’s (1995) findings support this association by showing
that, amongasample of 213 adolescent boysincarcerated for violent crimes,
those who had been exposed to family violence believed more than others
that “acting aggressively enhances one’s reputation or self-image” (p. 173).
Believing that aggression would enhance self-image significantly predicted
violent offending in this study. It also appears that boys and girls differ in
whattheylearn fromtheseexperiences.Carlson (1991)found that,in asample
of 101 adolescents, boys who witnessed domestic violence were significantly
morelikelytoapproveofviolencethanweregirlswhoalsohadwitnessedit.
Long-term developmental problems. Most studies reviewed to this point
haveexaminedchild problemsassociated withrecentwitnessingofdomestic
violence. A number of studies have mentioned much longer-term problems
reported retrospectivelyby adults or indicatedin archival records.For exam
-
ple, Silvern et al.’s (1995) study of 550 undergraduate students found that
witnessing violence as a child was associated with adult reports of depres
-
860 JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE / August 1999
sion, trauma-related symptoms, and low self-esteem among women and
trauma-related symptoms alone among men. Witnessing violence appeared
to be independent of the variance accounted for by the existence of parental
alcohol abuse and divorce. In the same vein, Henning, Leitenberg, Coffey,
Turner,andBennett(1996)foundthat,among123adultwomenwhohadwit
-
nessed domestic violence as a child, greater distress and lower social adjust
-
ment existed when compared to 494 nonwitnesses. These findings persisted
even after accounting for the effects of witnessing parental verbal conflict,
being abused as a child, and level of reported parental caring.
There is also some support for the hypothesis that children from violent
families of origin carry violent and violence-tolerant roles to their adult inti
-
mate relationships (Widom, 1989). For example, Rosenbaum and O’Leary
(1981) reported that the male batterers in their study were much more likely
than others to have grown up in homes where adult domestic violence was
occurring. Most of these men (82%) also were reported to have been physi
-
cally abused, thus clouding the unique contribution of witnessing domestic
violence.
Finally, several authors have reported strong associations between child-
hood victimization and later adult violent and criminal behavior (Rivera &
Widom, 1990; Widom, 1989). Although no adult studies point to such links
among child witnesses, violent adolescents were shown to have been seri-
ously physically abused by a parent and to have witnessed weapons viola-
tionsbetween adultsin theirhomes significantlymore oftenthan wereothers
(Spaccarelli et al., 1995). Witnessing adult violence and being abused, inde-
pendently and in combination, were significantly associated with adoles-
cents’use of violence.
Factors Moderating the Degree of Problems
Associated With Witnessing Violence
Several factors appear to moderate the degree to which a child is affected
by witnessingviolence. As willbe seen below, anumberof these factorsalso
seem to interact with each other, creating unique outcomes for different
children.
Abused and witnessing children. The selection of only studies that sepa
-
rated or controlled for abused children among their samples highlighted the
“doublewhammy,” asit hasbeencalledbyHughes etal. (1989),thatchildren
witnessing abuse and also being abused experience. Their study compared
children who were abused and had witnessed violence to children who had
Edleson / CHILDREN AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 861
only witnessed violence and to others who had neither witnessed nor been
abused. They found that children who were abused and witnesses exhibited
the most problem behaviors, the witness-only group showedmoderate prob
-
lem symptoms, and the comparison group the least. This same pattern ap
-
pears in a series of other comparison group and correlational studies (e.g.,
Carlson, 1991;Hughes, 1988; O’Keefe,1994b; Sternberget al., 1993). Chil
-
dren seem to agree; for example, in one study children indicated that the ex
-
perience of being abusedor both abused and a witness is more negative from
their perspective than witnessing adult domestic violence alone (McClosky,
Figueredo, & Koss, 1995). Interestingly, O’Keefe (1996) found that as the
levelof parent-to-childviolence increased,theimpactofwitnessingviolence
onachild’sadjustmentdecreased. Asparent-to-childviolence decreased,the
impact of witnessing violence increased.
Onthebasisoftheabovereview,thecombinationofbeingabusedandwit
-
nessing violence appears to be associated with more serious problems for
childrenthanwitnessingviolencealone.Silvernetal.(1995)found,however,
that after accounting for the statistical effects of being abused, adult reports
of theirchildhood witnessing of adult domesticviolence still accounted fora
significant degree of their problems as children. Silvern and her colleagues
suggest that witnessing domestic violence may result in traumatic effects on
children that are distinct from the effects of child abuse. O’Keefe’s (1996)
findings indicate that multiple exposures to violence and victimization
appear to interact and alter the degree to which witnessing violence affects
children.
Child characteristics. Some findings point to different factors for boys
and girls that are associated with witnessing violence. In general, boys have
been shown to exhibit more frequent problems and ones that are categorized
as externalized, such as hostility and aggression, whereas girls generally
show evidence of more internalized problems, such as depression and so
-
matic complaints (Carlson, 1991; Stagg, Wills, & Howell, 1989). There are
alsofindingsthatdissent fromthisgeneral trendbyshowingthatgirls,especially
as they get older, also exhibit more aggressive behaviors (e.g., Spaccarelli et al.,
1994). Related to this finding, girls’, but not boys’, violent behavior was
foundby Song,Singer,and Anglin(1998)to bepredicted byexposuretovio
-
lence at home.
Children of different ages also appear to exhibit differing responses asso
-
ciated with witnessing violence. Children in preschool were reported by
mothers to exhibit more problems than other age groups (Hughes, 1988).
862 JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE / August 1999
Fewstudieshavefounddifferencesbasedonraceandethnicity.O’Keefe’s
(1994c) study of White, Latino, and African American families of battered
women found that all the children were viewed by their mothers as having
serious emotional and behavioral problems. The only difference found
between the groups was on social competence; African American mothers
ratedtheirchildrenmorecompetentwhencomparedtoothermothers’ratings
of their own children.
Time since violent event. Consistent with the marital discord literature,
children appear to exhibitfewer problemsthelonger the period of time since
their last exposure to a violent event. For example, Wolfe, Zak, Wilson, and
Jaffe(1986) found more social problems among childrenresiding in shelters
thanamongchildrenwhohad atone timein thepast beenresidentinashelter.
The immediate turmoil of recent violence may temporarily escalate child
problems observed in a shelter setting.
Parent-child relationship factors. A number of authors have discussed a
child’s relationship to adult males in the home as a key factor. Peled (1998)
suggests that children’s relationships with their battering fathers are confus-
ing, withchildren expressingaffectionfor their fathersand resentment, pain,
and disappointment over his violent behavior.
Children’s relationshipstotheir mothersalso havebeenidentifiedasa key
factor in how children are affected by witnessing domestic violence. Some
have conjectured that a mother’s mental health would negatively affect a
child’s experience of violence, but the data are conflicting. McClosky et al.
(1995) found, however, that mothers’ mental health did not affect a child’s
response to violence in the home. One apparent problem in the few studies
that have examined parent-child relationship factors is an overreliance on
measures of the mother-child relationship. Little data exists about father-
childrelationshipsinfamiliesinwhichthefatheroranotheradultmaleis vio
-
lent. Because mothers and children are often more available for study, it is
easier to collect data on these relationships, but this unfortunately leads to
findings that focus on mothers’problems, rather than the factors that created
them. A more careful analysis of the impact of father-child relationships is
needed in these families.
Coping Strategies and Child Resilience
To thispoint,littlehasbeen saidabout howchildrencopewithexposureto
domesticviolence. Anumber ofauthorshavepointedto themechanisms that
Edleson / CHILDREN AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 863
children use to cope with violence exposure. For example, O’Brien et al.
(1994) found that boys who witnessed physical aggression between parents
were less able to deal with simulated family interactions, more likely to
reportthat theywouldactivelyinterveneinfamilyconflicts,morearousedby
simulated conflicts, and less likely to criticize people in the simulated con
-
flicts than wereboys from familiesin which no violence wasreported. Spac
-
carelli et al. (1995) also reported that adolescent boys who had experienced
serious physical violence and been exposed to interadult weapons use at
homeweresignificantlymorelikelythanothers touseaggressivecontrolasa
coping strategy.
On the other hand, Jaffe et al. (1990) point out that there are children in
their studies who show few negative symptoms, and some even show higher
social competence than comparison children. Indeed, several authors have
suggestedthatspecificcopingstrategiesmaylessentheeffectsofviolenceon
children. Sternberg et al. (1993) conclude that “perhaps the experience of
observing spouse abuse affects children by a less direct route than physical
abuse, with cognitive mechanisms playing a greater role in shaping the
effects of observing violence” (p. 50).
What are these coping strategies that some children develop to help them
better survive exposure to domestic violence? Peled (1993) suggests that
child witnesses of domestic violence use what Folkman and Lazarus (1980)
call “emotion-focused” and “problem-focused” coping strategies. Emotion-
focused strategies are those that a child uses to control his or her own emo-
tionalresponsetoevents.Peled(1993) foundthat thechildren mostlyapplied
this type of strategy, including “wishing the violence away at the time of a
fight, reframing and minimizing the violence, forgiving father, and refusing
to talk abouttheviolence” (p. 220). Problem-focused strategiesthat children
commonly used were characterized by actions aimed at changing events and
were used less often by children in Peled’s study. These included children
physically distancing themselvesfrom, or inserting themselves into, the vio
-
lent event.
Holtzworth-Munroe et al.’s (1997) review of the literature also suggests
that child problems associated with witnessing domestic violence may be
reframedasactivecopingmechanisms.In theirview,children’sproblemsare
waysto expressnegativeemotions,receivereassurances,and divertattention
from marital problems in the home. There is, however, very little specific
research to date that focuses on how child witnesses to adult domestic vio
-
lence successfully copewith their home environmentsandwhat, if anything,
can be done to establish and enhance such strategies.
864 JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE / August 1999
CONCLUSION
Children experience adult domestic violence in many ways. This article
has attempted to expand common definitions of how children witness adult
domestic violence by showing how children not only see violence but also
hear itoccurring, are usedas part ofit, and experienceitsaftermath. The arti
-
clealsohasattemptedtoconveyasenseoftheestimatednumberofAmerican
children who witness adult domestic violence. As stated earlier, more inclu
-
sivedefinitionsof children’s exposureare needed,as arenational surveydata
that result from the direct measurement of the prevalence and incidence of
children’s exposure to these events.
Primary attention has been given to reviewing findings concerning the
complexinfluences onchildren’sdevelopmentthatare associatedwithexpo
-
sure to adult domestic violence. The complexity involves not just problems
associated withexposure toviolence butalso variousmoderating factors and
copingstrategiesthatchildrenuse.Thecurrentliteratureoffersonlyglimpses
of children’s resilience and the factors in their environments that lessen or
heightentheimpactoftheviolenteventsswirlingaroundthem.Itisthesepro-
tective factors—about which we know little—that may lead us to design
moreeffectiveinterventionstominimizetheimpactofviolenceonchildren.
Caution must be used when drawing conclusions from the studies
reviewed here. These studies all show associations between variables, not
cause-effect relationships. As Holtzworth-Munroe et al. (1997) point out,
thesestudies onlyshowassociations betweenbeinga witnessandsome other
variable, such as a behavior problem. We generally speak of the “effects” of
witnessing violence on children’s development. In reality, however, these
studies reveal an association between the variables without predicting that
one variable caused the other to occur or vice versa.
The complexity of this issue is also emphasized by the multiple related
forms of exposure to conflict and violence that children experience, specifi
-
cally exposure to marital discord, community violence, and media violence.
The fragmentation of research studies on these issues leaves us with little
knowledgeofthe combined impacton childrenof multiple formsof witness
-
ing violence and conflict. We can only hypothesize that the cumulative
effects may be devastating for some children.
Anotherrelated issueof greatconcern ishowincreasedawarenessofchil
-
dren’s exposure and associated problems is being used. Concernedaboutthe
risk adult domestic violence poses for children, some child protection agen
-
ciesintheUnitedStatesappeartobedefiningexposuretoadultdomesticvio
-
lence as a form of child maltreatment. This assumes children who are
Edleson / CHILDREN AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 865
exposed to domestic violence are at risk for harm. The result is that battered
women involved with a child protection agency may be fearful of disclosing
their own victimization for fear of being separated from their children.
Defining witnessing as maltreatment is a mistake. Doing so ignores the
factthatlargenumbers ofchildreninthesestudies showedno negativedevel
-
opment problems and some showed evidence of strong coping abilities.
Automatically defining witnessingas maltreatment alsomay ignore battered
mothers’ efforts to develop safe environments for their children and them
-
selves. A careful assessment of the risks and protective factors in every fam
-
ily is necessary before drawing conclusions about the risks and harm to
children.
Finally, thisreviewpoints to themanyareas inwhich weknowlittle about
howexposuretoadult domesticviolenceaffectschildren’slives.The overde
-
pendence on adult reports, on reports of children in immediate crisis, and on
standardized measures that may miss manyimportant factors in a child’s life
leave many questions unanswered. Although a growing number of excellent
studieshavebeenreported,agreatdealofworkliesaheadinthedevelopment
of a more sophisticated understanding of how children are affected by their
exposure to adult domestic violence.
REFERENCES
Achenbach, T. M.,& Edelbrock, C. (1983). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklistand Revised
Child Behavior Profile. Burlington: University of Vermont Department of Psychiatry.
Adamson, L. A., & Thompson, R. A. (1998). Coping with interparental verbal conflict by chil
-
dren exposed to spouse abuse and children from nonviolent homes. Journal of Family Vio
-
lence, 13, 213-232.
Carlson, B. E. (1984). Children’s observations of interparental violence. In A.R. Roberts (Ed.),
Battered women and their families (pp. 147-167). New York: Springer.
Carlson, B. E. (1991). Outcomes of physical abuse and observation of marital violence among
adolescents in placement. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 6, 526-534.
Davidson, T. (1977). Wifebeating: A recurring phenomenon throughout history. In M. Roy
(Ed.), Battered women (pp. 2-23). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Dobash, R. E., & Dobash, R. P. (1979). Violence against wives. New York: Free Press.
Edleson,J.L.(1991).Socialworkers’interventioninwomanabuse:1907to1945.SocialService
Review, 65, 304-313.
Elbow, M. (1982). Children of violent marriages: The forgotten victims. Social Casework, 63,
465-471.
Fantuzzo, J. W., & Lindquist, C. U. (1989). The effects of observing conjugal violence on chil
-
dren:Areviewandanalysisofresearchmethodology.JournalofFamilyViolence,4,77-94.
Fantuzzo,J. W.,Boruch, R., Abdullahi, B.,Atkins, M., &Marcus, S. (1997).Domestic violence
andchildren:Prevalenceandrisk in fivemajorU.S. cities. Journalof the AmericanAcademy
of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 116-122.
866 JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE / August 1999
Fantuzzo, J. W., DePaola, L. M., Lambert, L., Martino, T., Anderson, G., & Sutton, S. (1991).
Effects of interparental violence on the psychological adjustment and competencies of
young children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 258-265.
Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1980). An analysis of coping ina middle-agedcommunity sam
-
ple. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 21, 219-239.
Ganley, A. L., & Schechter, S. (1996). Domestic violence: A national curriculum for children’s
protective services. San Francisco: Family Violence Prevention Fund.
Garbarino, J., Dubrow, N., Kostelny, K., & Pardo, C. (1992). Children in danger: Coping with
the consequences of community violence. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Gordon,L. (1988). Heroesoftheir own lives—The politics andhistory of family violence—Boston
1880-1960. New York: Viking.
Groves,B. M., Zukerman, B., Marans, S., & Cohen, D.J. (1993).Silent victims. JAMA:Journal
of the American Medical Association, 269, 262-264.
Grych, J. H., & Fincham, F. D. (1990). Marital conflict and children’s adjustment: A cognitive-
contextual framework. Psychological Bulletin, 108, 267-290.
Henning, K., Leitenberg, H., Coffey, P., Turner, T., & Bennett,R. T. (1996).Long-term psycho
-
logical and social impact of witnessing physical conflict between parents. Journal of Inter
-
personal Violence, 11, 35-51.
Holtzworth-Munroe, A., Smutzler, N., & Sandin, B. (1997). A brief review of the research on
husbandviolence.PartII:The psychological effectsof husbandviolenceon battered women
and their children. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 2, 179-213.
Hughes, H. M. (1988). Psychological and behavioral correlates of family violence in child wit-
ness and victims. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 58, 77-90.
Hughes, M. H., & Luke, D. A. (1998). Heterogeneity in adjustment among children of battered
women. In G. W. Holden, R. Geffner, & E. N. Jouriles (Eds.), Children exposed to marital
violence (pp. 185-221). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Hughes, H. M., Parkinson, D., & Vargo, M. (1989). Witnessing spouse abuse and experiencing
physical abuse: A “double whammy”? Journal of Family Violence, 4, 197-209.
Jaffe,P. G., & Suderman, M.(1995).Childwitnessesofwomanabuse:Researchandcommunity
responses. In S. M. Stith & M. A. Straus (Eds.), Understanding partner violence (pp. 213-
222). Minneapolis, MN: National Council on Family Relations.
Jaffe,P.G.,Wilson,S.,&Wolfe,D.(1986).Promotingchangesinattitudesandunderstandingof
conflictamongchildwitnessesoffamilyviolence.CanadianJournalofBehavioralScience,
18, 356-380.
Jaffe, P. G., Wolfe, D. A., & Wilson, S. K. (1990). Children of battered women. Newbury Park,
CA: Sage.
Jouriles, E. N., & Norwood, W. D. (1995). Physical aggression toward boys and girls in families
characterized by the battering of women. Journal of Family Psychology, 9, 69-78.
Kashani,J.H., Daniel, A.E.,Dandoy,A. C., &Holcomb,W. R. (1992).Familyviolence:Impact
onchildren.JournaloftheAmericanAcademyofChildandAdolescentPsychiatry,31,181-189.
Kolbo, J. R. (1996). Risk and resilience among children exposed to family violence. Violence &
Victims, 11, 113-128.
Kolbo, J. R., Blakely, E., & Engleman, D. (1996). Children who witness domestic violence: A
review of empirical literature. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 11, 281-293.
Levine, E. M. (1986). Sociocultural causes of family violence:A theoretical comment. Journal
of Family Violence, 1, 3-12.
Maker, A. H., Kemmelmeier, M., & Peterson, C. (1998). Long-term psychological conse
-
quences in women of witnessing parental physical conflict andexperiencing abusein child
-
hood. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 13, 574-589.
Edleson / CHILDREN AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 867
Margolin, G. (1998). Effects of witnessing violence on children. In P. K. Trickett & C. J.
Schellenbach (Eds.), Violence against children in the family and the community (pp. 57-101).
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Mathias, J. L., Mertin, P., & Murray, A.(1995). The psychological functioning of children from
backgrounds of domestic violence. Australian Psychologist, 30, 47-56.
McClosky,L. A., Figueredo,A.J.,& Koss,M. P.(1995). The effectsofsystemic family violence
on children’s mental health. Child Development, 66, 1239-1261.
Miller,T.R.,Handal, P. J., Gilner,F. H., & Cross, J. F. (1991). The relationship ofabuseand wit
-
nessing violence on the child abuse potential inventory with Black adolescents. Journal of
Family Violence, 6, 351-363.
Moore, T. E.,& Pepler, D. J. (1998). Correlates of adjustment in children atrisk. InG. W. Holden,
R. Geffner, & E. N. Jouriles (Eds.), Children exposed to marital violence (pp. 157-184).
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
O’Brien, M., John, R. S., Margolin, G., & Erel, O. (1994). Reliability and diagnostic efficacy of
parents’reportsregardingchildren’sexposuretomaritalaggression.ViolenceandVictims,9,
45-62.
O’Keefe,M.(1994a).Adjustmentofchildrenfrommaritallyviolenthomes.FamiliesinSociety:
The Journal of Contemporary Human Service, 75, 403-415.
O’Keefe,M. (1994b). Linkingmarital violence, mother-child/father-childaggression, and child
behavior problems. Journal of Family Violence, 9, 63-78.
O’Keefe,M.(1994c). Racial/ethnic differencesamongbatteredwomenand their children. Jour-
nal of Child and Family Studies, 3, 283-305.
O’Keefe,M. (1995). Predictors of child abuse in maritallyviolent families. Journalof Interper-
sonal Violence, 10, 3-25.
O’Keefe,M. (1996). The differential effects of family violence on adolescent adjustment. Child
and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 13, 51-68.
O’Keefe, M., & Sela-Amit, M. (in press). An examination of the effects of race/ethnicity and
social class on adolescents’exposure to violence. Journal of Social Science Research.
Paik, H., & Comstock, G. (1994). The effects of television violence on antisocial behavior: A
meta-analysis. Communication Research, 21, 516-546.
Peled, E. (1993). The experience of living with violence for preadolescent witnesses of woman
abuse. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Peled, E. (1998). The experience of living with violence for preadolescent witnesses of woman
abuse. Youth & Society, 29, 395-430.
Peled, E., & Davis, D. (1995). Group work with children of battered women. Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage.
Peterson, D. (1991). Physically violent husbands of the 1890s and their resources. Journal of
Family Violence, 6, 1-15.
Pleck,E. H.(1987). Domestic tyranny:The making of social policy against familyviolence from
Colonial times to present. New York: Oxford University Press.
Pynoos, R. S., & Eth, S. (1984). The child as a witness to homicide. Journal of Social Issues, 40,
87-108.
Rivera,B.,&Widom,C.(1990).Childhoodvictimizationandviolentoffending.Violence &Vic
-
tims, 5, 19-35.
Rosenbaum,A.,&O’Leary,D.K.(1981). Children: The unintended victims of marital violence.
American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 51, 692-699.
Rossman, B. B. (1998). Descartes’s error and posttraumatic stress disorder: Cognition and
emotion in children who are exposed to parental violence.In G. W. Holden, R.Geffner, &
868 JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE / August 1999
E. N. Jouriles (Eds.),Children exposed to maritalviolence (pp. 223-256). Washington, DC:
American Psychological Association.
Silvern, L., Karyl, J., Waelde, L., Hodges, W. F., Starek, J., Heidt, E., & Min, K. (1995). Retro
-
spective reports of parental partner abuse: Relationships to depression, trauma symptoms
and self-esteem among college students. Journal of Family Violence, 10, 177-202.
Singer, M. I., Anglin, T. M., Song, L., & Lunghofer, L. (1995). Adolescents’ exposure to vio
-
lence and associated symptoms of psychological trauma. JAMA: Journal of the American
Medical Association, 273(6), 477-482.
Singer, M. I.,Miller, D. B., Guo, S., Slovak,K., & Frierson,T. (1998). The mental health conse
-
quences of children’s exposure to violence. Cleveland, OH: Cayahoga County Community
MentalHealth Research Institute, Mandel Schoolof Applied Social Sciences, Case Western
Reserve University.
Song,L., Singer,M., & Anglin, T.(1998). Violenceexposureand emotional trauma as contribu
-
tors to adolescents’violent behaviors. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 152,
531-536.
Spaccarelli, S., Coatsworth, J. D., & Bowden,B. S. (1995). Exposure to serious family violence
among incarcerated boys: Its association with violent offending and potential mediating
variables. Violence and Victims, 10, 163-182.
Spaccarelli, S., Sandler, I. N., & Roosa, M. (1994). History of spouse violence against mother:
Correlated risks and unique effects in child mental health. Journal of Family Violence, 9,
79-98.
Stagg, V., Wills, G. D., & Howell, M.(1989). Psychopathology in early childhood witnesses of
family violence. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 9, 73-87.
Sternberg,K. J.,Lamb, M. E.,& Dawud-Noursi,S. (1998). Using multiple informants tounder-
standdomestic violence and its effects.In G. W. Holden, R. Geffner,& E. N. Jouriles (Eds.),
Children exposed to marital violence (pp. 121-156). Washington, DC: American Psycho-
logical Association.
Sternberg,K.J.,Lamb,M.E.,Greenbaum,C.,Cicchetti,D.,Dawud,S., Cortes,R.M.,Krispin,O., &
Lorey, F. (1993). Effects of domestic violence on children’s behavior problems and depres-
sion. Developmental Psychology, 29, 44-52.
Sternberg,K.J.,Lamb,M.E., Greenbaum, C., Dawud,S.,Cortes,R.M.,&Lorey, F.(1994).The
effects of domestic violence on children’s perceptions of their perpetration and nonperpe
-
trating parents. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 17, 779-795.
Straus, M. A. (1990).Injury andfrequency of assaultand the “representative sample fallacy” in
measuring wife beating and child abuse. In M. A. Straus & R. J. Gelles(Eds.), Physical vio
-
lence in American families (pp. 75-91). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Straus, M. A. (1992). Children as witnesses to marital violence: A risk factor for lifelong prob
-
lems among anationally representativesample of American men and women. Report of the
Twenty-Third Ross Roundtable. Columbus, OH: Ross Laboratories.
Straus, M. A., & Gelles, R. J. (1990). Physical violence in American families. New Brunswick,
NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Straus,M.A.,Gelles,R.J.,&Steinmetz,S.K.(1980).Behindcloseddoors.NewYork:Anchor.
Syers-McNairy, M.(1990).Womenwholeaveviolentrelationships:Gettingonwithlife.Unpub
-
lished doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Wallerstein, J. S. (1991). The long-term effects of divorce on children: A review. Journal of the
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30, 349-360.
Widom, C. S. (1989). The intergenerational transmission of violence. New York: Harry Frank
Guggenheim Foundation.
Edleson / CHILDREN AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 869
Wolfe, D. A., Zak, L., Wilson, S., & Jaffe, P. (1986). Child witnesses to violence between par
-
ents: Critical issues in behavioral and social adjustment. Journal of Abnormal Child Psy
-
chology, 14, 95-104.
Jeffrey L. Edleson is a professor in the University of Minnesota School of Social Work
and Director of the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (www.min
-
cava.umn.edu). He has published more than 60 articles and 5 books on domestic vio
-
lence, group work, and program evaluation. Dr. Edleson has conducted intervention
researchattheDomesticAbuseProjectinMinneapolisformorethan15years.Hisbooks
include Intervention for Men Who Batter: An Ecological Approach, coauthored with
RichardM. Tolman (Sage, 1992), Ending the Cycle of Violence:Community Responses
to Children of Battered Women, coedited with Einat Peled and Peter G. Jaffe (Sage,
1995), Future Interventions with Battered Women and Their Families, coedited with Zvi
Eisikovits (Sage, 1996), and Evaluating Domestic Violence Programs (Domestic Abuse
Project, 1997). His most recent work, coauthored with Susan Schechter, is titled Effec
-
tive Intervention in Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment Cases: Guidelines for
Policy and Practice (National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, 1999).
870 JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE / August 1999
