Maternal sensitivity and child behavior problems in the context of intimate partner violence

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is defined as physical, sexual, or psychological violence perpetrated by a romantic partner. When IPV occurs prenatally, it can affect the developing stress regulatory system of the fetus and confer risk for later behavior problems. Postnatal exposure to IPV is also linked to greater behavior problems in children, potentially due to the way that high-stress home environments can interfere with the development of self-regulation. Maternal sensitivity, on the other hand, is an important parenting factor that promotes children's adaptive self-regulation. The present study (N = 446) examined whether maternal sensitivity influences the impact of maternal prenatal and postnatal IPV exposure on children's behavior. Findings revealed that prenatal IPV exposure predicted greater externalizing and internalizing behavior at child age 2.5 years. Postnatal IPV exposure was not associated with children's externalizing and internalizing behavior. However, the interaction between maternal sensitivity and postnatal IPV was significantly associated with child internalizing behavior. Follow-up analyses identified a significant positive association between postnatal IPV and child internalizing behavior at low levels of maternal sensitivity but a negative association between postnatal IPV and child internalizing behavior at high levels of maternal sensitivity. This suggests that some mothers can be highly sensitive caregivers or perhaps become even more sensitive caregivers, in the face of IPV exposure, which may protect children from the detrimental effects of IPV exposure on some aspects of adjustment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).