The effects of children's exposure to domestic violence: a meta-analysis and critique

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David A Wolfe1, Claire V Crooks, Vivien Lee

  • 1Centre for Research on Violence Against Women and Children, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. dawolfe@uwo.ca

Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review
|November 19, 2003
PubMed

Insights

Children exposed to domestic violence often experience social, emotional, and behavioral problems. This meta-analysis of 41 studies confirms a link between domestic violence exposure and these issues in children.

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Exposure to domestic violence significantly impacts children's social, emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and health development.
  • Empirical research with robust controls and theoretical grounding is limited in this area.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To conduct a meta-analysis on the effects of domestic violence exposure on children's developmental outcomes.
  • To synthesize existing empirical data and identify trends in children's well-being.

Main Methods:

  • A meta-analysis was performed on 41 studies meeting inclusion criteria for relevant and adequate data.
  • Statistical analysis was used to determine the overall effect size and explore potential moderators.

Main Results:

  • Forty of the included studies found a relationship between domestic violence exposure and children's emotional and behavioral problems.
  • A small overall effect size (Zr = .28) was observed, with age, sex, and outcome type not acting as significant moderators.
  • The co-occurrence of child abuse exacerbated emotional and behavioral problems beyond exposure to domestic violence alone.

Conclusions:

  • Children's exposure to domestic violence is linked to emotional and behavioral difficulties.
  • Future research should prioritize large-scale longitudinal studies and theoretically informed approaches considering contextual factors.

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