Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence: Conduct Problems, Interventions, and Partner Contact With the Child

Children's contact with their mother's violent partner is a potentially important variable for understanding conduct problems among children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV). Within the context of a treatment study evaluating a parenting intervention (Project Support) for families exiting a domestic violence shelter, this study tested four hypotheses regarding children's postshelter contact with their mother's violent partner: (1) participation in Project Support decreases the frequency of children's contact with their mother's violent partner; (2) postshelter contact is positively associated with children's conduct problems and is associated more strongly for girls than boys; (3) frequency of contact mediates Project Support's effects on children's conduct problems; and (4) frequency of contact is positively associated with IPV and partner-child aggression, and these latter associations help explain effects of contact on children's conduct problems. Participants were 66 women (26 White) with a child (32 girls) between 4 and 9 years. Families were assessed every 4 months for 20 months after departure from a domestic violence shelter. Project Support reduced the extent of partner-child contact. In addition, within-subject changes in contact over time were associated with girls', but not boys', conduct problems, and it partially mediated effects of Project Support on girls' conduct problems. Higher average levels of contact over time were also positively associated with further incidents of IPV and partner-child aggression, and partner-child aggression helped explain effects of contact on children's conduct problems. Children's postshelter contact with the mother's violent partner relates positively to several negative family outcomes.