Educational, judicial, and social outcomes of children exposed to intimate partner violence.

BACKGROUND

Exposure to intimate partner violence (EIPV) in childhood can result in adverse outcomes.

OBJECTIVES

The objective was to determine if children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) have worse educational, judicial, or social outcomes compared to peers without EIPV.

PARTICIPANTS AND

SETTING

This retrospective, population-based cohort study of children (<18 years old) in Manitoba, Canada longitudinally followed children between three and twenty-two years.

METHODS

Children (n = 10,731) exposed to IPV between 2002 and 2019 were identified from population-based administrative data and matched to five randomly selected children without EIPV (n = 53,655). Social, educational, and judicial outcomes were extracted and hazard rates or risk rates were calculated.

RESULTS

Children exposed to IPV were at increased risk of not meeting Grade 7 math expectations (RR: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.21, 1.31), Grade 8 reading and writing expectations (RR: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.12, 1.32) and withdrawing from high school (RR: 1.32: 95%CI: 1.24, 1.40) compared to children with no EIPV. EIPV increased the risk of being a victim (HR: 1.93; 95%CI: 1.82, 2.05), accused (HR: 1.49; 95%CI: 1.40, 1.59), or a witness of a crime (HR: 1.79; 95%CI: 1.65, 1.93) as young adults. EIPV increased the risk of being involved with Child and Family Services (HR: 4.50; 95%CI: 4.28, 4.73). Female children exposed to IPV had an increased the risk of having a teenaged pregnancy (HR: 1.59; 95% CI: 1.43, 1.76).

CONCLUSIONS

Children exposed to IPV are at risk for adverse outcomes and require increased supports and social programming. Interventions to prevent IPV and to reduce negative outcomes are needed.