Childhood Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence: A Three-Level Meta-Analysis to Examine the Impact on Mental Health

Childhood exposure to intimate partner violence (CEIPV) is a pervasive adverse childhood experience with wide-ranging mental health consequences, yet its associations with mental health problems remain inconsistent across studies. Existing meta-analyses are dated and have largely overlooked outcomes beyond childhood. This study employed a three-level meta-analysis to examine the magnitude of the association between CEIPV and mental health outcomes, as well as potential moderators. A systematic search yielded 36 eligible studies (78 effect sizes; N = 59,561). Based on variations in clinical specificity and outcome labels used across studies, outcomes were classified as internalising problems, depressive symptoms, and PTSD-related symptoms. Results revealed a significant moderate overall effect (r = 0.263). The association was significant across internalising problems (r = 0.252), depressive symptoms (r = 0.227), and PTSD-related symptoms (r = 0.319). Moderation analyses indicated that higher study quality and larger sample sizes were associated with smaller effect sizes, and these patterns also applied to the depressive symptoms and internalising problems subgroups, respectively. Studies using the Conflict Tactics Scale showed larger effect sizes compared to studies using other measures. In addition, older participant age was associated with slightly larger effect sizes in the PTSD-related symptoms subgroup. These findings indicate that CEIPV confers significant mental health risks, underscoring the need for trauma-informed prevention and intervention efforts.