Adolescents’ Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence, Delinquent Behaviors and the Role of Perceived Social Support

Abstract

An underestimated 10.7 million of the 52.7 million US children (ages 0-17) living with two parents live in homes where male-to-female intimate partner violence (IPV) between adults has occurred in the last year. Children’s exposure to IPV (EIPV) affects their behavior, development and educational outcomes. Adolescent’s exposure and behavioral responses to EIPV is understudied. This study uses a secondary analysis of data from the third National Survey of Children Exposed to Violence (the most comprehensive nationwide survey of the incidence and prevalence of children’s exposure to violence conducted to date) to explore the ways adolescents’ EIPV are associated with delinquent behaviors, and whether the perception of social support (SS) is a protective factor in the relationship between EIPV and delinquent behaviors. This analysis extends the understanding of the relationship between EIPV, delinquency, and SS: (a) It documented that SS was more protective for females than males. (b) While White non-Hispanic children experienced lower levels of EIPV and higher levels of SS, both “races” demonstrated a benefit from SS. 3) Measures of SS vary only minimally across the age ranges in this study. In contrast both measures of delinquency and EIPV got worse with age.