The Impact of Minor Intimate Partner Aggression on Child Conduct

Research on the impact of intimate partner aggression (IPA) and child outcomes has primarily focused on the impact of severe forms of IPA and has tended to neglect the impact of minor forms of IPA on child behaviour. In addition, little is known about the impact that male IPA victimisation has on child outcomes. Thus, the current study aims to better understand the impact of minor IPA, risks and protective factors associated with it, while taking into consideration both mother-reported and partner-reported IPA. Using longitudinal, secondary data from the Growing Up in New Zealand study we used structural equation modelling to test our hypothesised models. Our study included n= 3801 children, their mothers, and the mothers’ partners. Results showed that minor IPA has an effect on child conduct problems and that maternal depression explains part of this relationship. Furthermore, we found that maternal warmth was a risk factor for increased conduct problems, but this was likely a factor of incongruent mother-child perceptions of maternal warmth. Additionally, we found that harsh discipline and child prosocial skills did not have a moderating effect, suggesting other factors may be of more importance in explaining the relationship between minor IPA and child conduct problems. Lastly, we found that for the most part, the impact of minor IPA on child conduct problems was the same across boys and girls. These findings mark the importance of early life experiences in children’s development by showing that even exposure to minor forms of IPA at an early developmental stage can have negative behavioural consequences later in development. These findings open new avenues for future research that will help inform potential interventions to minimise risks and promote resilience in children affected by all forms of IPA.