Intimate partner violence and emotional-behavioral childhood adjustment: the mediating effect of parenting stress

Maternal reports of 317 women were used to investigate the mediating effect of parental stress in the relationship between intimate partner violence and emotional-behavioral childhood adjustment (6 to 8 years old). Results showed that parental stress is a mediator in the relationship between intimate partner violence and children’s problems related to emotional and behavioral adjustment. Intimate partner violence had a direct and indirect effect on childhood adjustment confirming that children of women who have experienced high levels of violence perpetrated by their partner are more prone to reporting more emotional and behavioral problems. Furthermore, we confirmed that intimate partner violence increases parental stress among women. As a consequence, women decrease gradually their maternal skills. Finally, through structural equation modeling, we confirmed that the stress resulting from family interactions affects directly the emotional development and behavior of children. Based on these results, any behavioral and emotional intervention with children must consider the parental level of stress.