CONSEQUENCES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF CHILDREN

Abstract

While domestic violence and child abuse are known to be highly correlated, several related areas of functioning of children are not well researched on and have implications for the provision of services. A complex pattern of results documented high levels of abuse and associated trauma disorders in children. Being exposed to violence in the home during war increases risk of developing problems in mental health and psychosocial wellbeing (MHPSW), a small but robust evidence base shows that. Studies reveal that living with domestic violence can cause physical and emotional harm to children and young people in the following ways: Ongoing anxiety and depression, emotional distress, eating and sleeping disturbances. Conversely, this evidence shows that supportive parenting can be a protective factor against the demonstrated negative effects of war on children´s mental health. Evidence from multiple sources increasingly shows that exposure to war alone cannot account for how children exposed to similar war events experience different mental and psychosocial states and trajectories. Other factors, including home life, provide complementary, at times even better, explanations In fact, in many cases, factors that traumatize children stem not only from war events, but also from everyday hardships. Home life can be a moderator, and potentially a mediator, of the effects of war.