Adverse Consequences from Intimate Partner Violence and Mothers’ and Fathers’ Supportive Parenting

Supportive parenting can protect children who have been exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) from developing adjustment problems, and there is evidence suggesting that supportive parenting increases under certain circumstances after IPV. However, research on IPV and supportive parenting focuses almost exclusively on parenting by mothers, and there is very little research examining the circumstances in which experiencing IPV (i.e., victimization) bolsters supportive parenting. The present research addresses these gaps. Participants included 397 families (mothers, fathers, and children). Mothers and fathers reported on experiences of IPV, whether they experienced adverse consequences from IPV (physical injury and fear), and supportive parenting. Children reported on their mothers' and fathers' supportive parenting. Results indicated that adverse consequences from IPV (i.e., physical injury and fear) were more common among mothers than fathers. Additionally, adverse consequences moderated the association between the frequency of experiencing IPV and both parents' self-reports of supportive parenting; for both mothers and fathers, when adverse consequences were reported, IPV experiences were associated with more supportive parenting. In the absence of adverse consequences, IPV experiences were associated with less supportive parenting. Adverse consequences also moderated the association between IPV experiences and child reports of fathers' supportive parenting. Again, when fathers reported experiencing adverse consequences of IPV, fathers' IPV experiences were associated with more supportive parenting. The findings underscore the complex relations between experiencing IPV and supportive parenting and suggest that both mothers' and fathers' adverse experiences from IPV may lead to increases in supportive parenting. These results highlight the importance of recognizing the nuanced ways that adversity may activate protective parenting responses and underscore the potential utility of parenting programs to consider both mothers' and fathers' parenting.