Associations among victimization, communication, and social competence in mother-child dyads exposed to intimate partner violence

IF 3.4 2区心理学 Q1 FAMILY STUDIES Child Abuse & Neglect Pub Date : 2025-02-01 DOI:10.1016/j.chiabu.2025.107298

Taylor Napier , Kathryn H. Howell , Kari Thomsen , Caitlyn Maye , Idia B. Thurston

{"title":"Associations among victimization, communication, and social competence in mother-child dyads exposed to intimate partner violence","authors":"Taylor Napier , Kathryn H. Howell , Kari Thomsen , Caitlyn Maye , Idia B. Thurston","doi":"10.1016/j.chiabu.2025.107298","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Mothers' experiences of child abuse (CA) and adulthood intimate partner violence (IPV) are linked with poorer social emotional functioning in their children.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>The current study examined direct relations between mothers' CA, mothers' adulthood IPV, and children's direct victimization on children's social competence using a cross-sectional dyadic design. The indirect effects of types of violence through open communication on children's social competence were also assessed.</div></div><div><h3>Participants and setting</h3><div>Mother-child dyads (N = 162) were recruited from community organizations in the MidSouth region of the United States; all mothers (<em>M</em><sub><em>age</em></sub> = 35.24, <em>SD</em> = 6.70; 80.7 % Black) reported IPV exposure in the past 6 months. On average, children were 12 years old (<em>M</em><sub><em>age</em></sub> = 12.38, <em>SD</em> = 2.84; 59 % female) and predominantly Black (85.5 %).</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A mediated path model assessed the direct effects of mothers' CA, mothers' adulthood IPV, and children's direct victimization on children's social competence, and the indirect effects of these violence variables through open mother-child communication on social competence.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The path model yielded a strong fit [χ<sup>2</sup>(10) = 10.52, <em>p</em> = .38; RMSEA = 0.02 [CI, 0.00–0.09]; CFI = 0.99; SRMR = 0.04]. An indirect-only mediation effect was found between children's direct victimization through open mother-child communication on their social competence (β = −0.07, <em>p</em> = .025; 95 % CI [−0.18, −0.01]; children exposed to more direct victimization reported less open communication, which was linked to lower social competence.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Results demonstrate the relation between direct victimization and children's view of themselves and their relationship with their caregivers. Increasing access to family-based interventions that reduce conflict and strengthen mother-child communication could promote children's social competence following direct victimization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51343,"journal":{"name":"Child Abuse & Neglect","volume":"161 ","pages":"Article 107298"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Child Abuse & Neglect","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0145213425000535","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"FAMILY STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Mothers' experiences of child abuse (CA) and adulthood intimate partner violence (IPV) are linked with poorer social emotional functioning in their children.

Objective

The current study examined direct relations between mothers' CA, mothers' adulthood IPV, and children's direct victimization on children's social competence using a cross-sectional dyadic design. The indirect effects of types of violence through open communication on children's social competence were also assessed.

Participants and setting

Mother-child dyads (N = 162) were recruited from community organizations in the MidSouth region of the United States; all mothers (M_age = 35.24, SD = 6.70; 80.7 % Black) reported IPV exposure in the past 6 months. On average, children were 12 years old (M_age = 12.38, SD = 2.84; 59 % female) and predominantly Black (85.5 %).

Methods

A mediated path model assessed the direct effects of mothers' CA, mothers' adulthood IPV, and children's direct victimization on children's social competence, and the indirect effects of these violence variables through open mother-child communication on social competence.

Results

The path model yielded a strong fit [χ²(10) = 10.52, p = .38; RMSEA = 0.02 [CI, 0.00–0.09]; CFI = 0.99; SRMR = 0.04]. An indirect-only mediation effect was found between children's direct victimization through open mother-child communication on their social competence (β = −0.07, p = .025; 95 % CI [−0.18, −0.01]; children exposed to more direct victimization reported less open communication, which was linked to lower social competence.

Conclusions

Results demonstrate the relation between direct victimization and children's view of themselves and their relationship with their caregivers. Increasing access to family-based interventions that reduce conflict and strengthen mother-child communication could promote children's social competence following direct victimization.

查看原文

微信好友朋友圈 QQ好友复制链接

本刊更多论文

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文去求助

来源期刊

Child Abuse & Neglect Multiple-

CiteScore

7.40

自引率

10.40%

发文量

397

期刊介绍： Official Publication of the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. Child Abuse & Neglect The International Journal, provides an international, multidisciplinary forum on all aspects of child abuse and neglect, with special emphasis on prevention and treatment; the scope extends further to all those aspects of life which either favor or hinder child development. While contributions will primarily be from the fields of psychology, psychiatry, social work, medicine, nursing, law enforcement, legislature, education, and anthropology, the Journal encourages the concerned lay individual and child-oriented advocate organizations to contribute.