Children living with domestic violence: research foundations for early intervention.

Children living with domestic violence: Research foundations for early intervention 

J. McIntosh, Journal of Family Studies, v.9, n.2, 2003, pp.219-34.

In this review of 'the evidence about the developmental impact on children of living in violent homes', a section is devoted to the effects of domestic violence on adolescents. The author outlines the findings of the Young People and Domestic Violence research project (Australian Attorney General's Department 2001). Young people were found to regard 'a wide range of behaviours as constituting domestic violence'. Boys from multiply disadvantaged backgrounds, and young boys generally, were 'more likely to express attitudes supportive of violence'. Older Indigenous teens and Indigenous girls were more likely to identify with the experience of domestic violence. Male adolescents were more likely to report being the victims of violence at school while female adolescents were more likely to report being exposed to indirect violence in the home. Other research has suggested that boys' responses to anger and threat in parental conflict are externalising and anxiety-based whereas girls' responses are internalising and 'dependent on appraisals of self-blame and perceived control'. The paper concludes that there is a need for 'far-reaching prevention of family-based trauma' and early intervention, particularly with children.