Relationship between emotional awareness, symptoms, and protective factors in children exposed to intimate partner violence.

Abstract

Objective: This study was designed to analyze the associations between emotional awareness (EA) and internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and mood states in children ages 8-12 who were previously exposed to intimate partner violence (EIPV). The study also aimed to explore the association between EA and external and internal protective factors of resilience.

Method: A descriptive design study was used; participants were 61 children (M = 10 years, 52.5% girls) who were EIPV patients from three Child and Adolescent Mental Health Centers in the Barcelona metropolitan area, Spain. The hypotheses of this study were that (a) an increased capacity for EA would be associated with less severity of internalizing and externalizing symptoms in children EIPV and (b) an increased capacity for EA would correlate with greater resilience.

Results: Lower EA was found to be associated with more symptoms, specifically trait anxiety, depression, somatic complaints, total externalizing and internalizing symptoms, and increased feelings of anger and sadness. Greater EA was linked to improved social skills, higher self-esteem, empathy, humor, and both external and internal resilience, as well as with reduced aggressiveness/antisocial behavior and loneliness/social anxiety. The variables that best explained the EA factors were trait anxiety, dysphoria, problem attention, sadness, humor, self-esteem, internal and external protective factors, appropriate social skills, and friendship.

Conclusion: This study highlights the relevance of EA for children EIPV. Lower EA was associated with higher symptom severity, while higher EA was linked to better self-esteem, social skills, and resilience. The findings suggest the significance of addressing EA in therapeutic interventions for this population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).