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Does parental physical violence reduce children's standardized test score performance?
Corinne Peek-Asa1, Leah Maxwell, Ann Stromquist
1College of Public Health, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, The University of Iowa Injury Prevention Research Center, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. Corinne-peek-asa@uiowa.edu
Annals of Epidemiology
|August 28, 2007
Summary
Parental violence negatively impacts children's academic performance. Children in households with physical violence scored significantly lower on standardized tests, especially girls and younger children.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Educational Psychology
- Sociology
Background:
- Parental violence is linked to adverse child outcomes.
- Academic performance effects of parental violence are understudied.
Purpose of the Study:
- Examine the association between parental violence and children's standardized test scores.
- Investigate the impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) on academic achievement in a rural cohort.
Main Methods:
- Prospective study of 306 children (ages 6-17) over 5 years.
- Parental health interviews assessed physical violence.
- Hierarchical multivariate models analyzed test score performance, controlling for covariates.
Main Results:
- 1 in 5 children experienced parental physical violence.
- Children exposed to IPV scored 12.2 percentile points lower on average.
- IPV had a greater negative impact on girls and children under 12.
Conclusions:
- Parental physical violence is prevalent and significantly harms children's academic performance.
- Early intervention and support for families experiencing violence are crucial.
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