Educational, judicial, and social outcomes of children exposed to intimate partner violence

BACKGROUND: Exposure to intimate partner violence (EIPV) in childhood can result in adverse outcomes. OBJECTIVES: The objective was to determine if children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) have worse educational, judicial, or social outcomes compared to peers without EIPV. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: This retrospective, population-based cohort study of children (<18 years old) in Manitoba, Canada longitudinally followed children between three and twenty-two years. METHODS: Children (n = 10,731) exposed to IPV between 2002 and 2019 were identified from population-based administrative data and matched to five randomly selected children without EIPV (n = 53,655). Social, educational, and judicial outcomes were extracted and hazard rates or risk rates were calculated. RESULTS: Children exposed to IPV were at increased risk of not meeting Grade 7 math expectations (RR: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.21, 1.31), Grade 8 reading and writing expectations (RR: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.12, 1.32) and withdrawing from high school (RR: 1.32: 95%CI: 1.24, 1.40) compared to children with no EIPV. EIPV increased the risk of being a victim (HR: 1.93; 95%CI: 1.82, 2.05), accused (HR: 1.49; 95%CI: 1.40, 1.59), or a witness of a crime (HR: 1.79; 95%CI: 1.65, 1.93) as young adults. EIPV increased the risk of being involved with Child and Family Services (HR: 4.50; 95%CI: 4.28, 4.73). Female children exposed to IPV had an increased the risk of having a teenaged pregnancy (HR: 1.59; 95% CI: 1.43, 1.76). CONCLUSIONS: Children exposed to IPV are at risk for adverse outcomes and require increased supports and social programming. Interventions to prevent IPV and to reduce negative outcomes are needed.