Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence and Children's Physiological Functioning: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Over 25% of youth in the United States are estimated to witness intimate partner violence (IPV) at some point during childhood. Research has synthesized the physical and behavioral health consequences of children's IPV exposure, but evidence of links between witnessing IPV and children's physiological functioning has yet to be integrated. The primary aim of this systematic review is to delineate the patterns by which variation in children's physiological functioning has been measured to associate with IPV exposure. This study was one component of a broader Evidence and Gap Map (EGM) consolidation of how witnessing IPV affects children's wellbeing. Seven bibliographic databases were systematically searched through August 2020 and, of 381 total EGM-included citations, 23 examined children's physiological functioning in the context of IPV exposure. Research evidences a directly deleterious effect of IPV exposure for children's endocrine, nervous, cardiovascular, and immune functioning and a vulnerability effect of physiological dysregulation across other domains of children's wellbeing. Additional research on how specific aspects of IPV exposure affect children's physiologies and wellbeing across time is critical. Future inquiry measuring dynamic associations between various physiological responses in the aftermath of witnessing IPV is needed. Further elucidating the physiological context of children's IPV exposure is important for developing and implementing interventions that maximize children's opportunities for resilience.
Author(s): Kristen A. Berg [sup.1] [sup.2] , Kylie E. Evans [sup.2] , Gregory Powers [sup.2] , Scott E. Moore [sup.3] , Stacey Steigerwald [sup.4] , Anna E. Bender [sup.2] , [...]