Differences and Similarities in Mother and Child Reports About IPV Risks: Concordance Is Likely but Cannot Be Assumed

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Child Psychology
• Criminology

Background:

• Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) significantly impacts maternal and child well-being.
• Parental reports are often the primary source of information regarding IPV exposure.
• Understanding child exposure to IPV requires considering multiple perspectives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare mother and child reports on intimate partner violence (IPV) risk.
• To assess the concurrence between maternal and child perceptions of IPV risk.
• To evaluate risk levels for mothers and children based on their reports.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of reports from 297 mother-child dyads.
• Comparison of concurrence on specific high-risk IPV items.
• Utilized composite measures for general risk assessment to mother and child.

Main Results:

• Majority of dyads reported similar risk levels for 8 individual IPV items (60.9%-77.1%).
• Concurrence on composite measures for maternal and child risk was observed (61.9% and 54.2%).
• Overall concordance between mother and child reports was lower than anticipated.

Conclusions:

• While mothers and children often agree on IPV risk, concordance is not absolute.
• Relying solely on parental reports may underestimate children's exposure to IPV.
• Incorporating children's self-reports is crucial for accurate assessment in clinical, research, and forensic settings.