Estimating Canadian childhood exposure to intimate partner violence and other risky parental behaviors

Abstract

Using victimization data, this study provides national estimates of childhood exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) and other risky parental behaviors. According to respondent reports, 13% of these families are characterized by emotional abuse and 5% by physical violence. This equates to over 765,000 Canadian children potentially exposed to domestic abuse that includes emotional abuse and over 294,000 children exposed to physical violence. Our research further identifies that children residing in family households experiencing IPV are exposed to a multitude of other high-risk parental behaviors. When compared to children in nonvictim households, children in households experiencing IPV are more likely to have a parent using medications for sleep, to calm down, for depression, or having a parent that engages in binge drinking. These findings point to the importance of interventions addressing a multitude of risk factors present in families affected by IPV to minimize the adverse impacts on children.