Intimate Partner Violence, Coparenting, and Child Behavior Problems in Low-income, Racial and Ethnic Minority Families
Open AccessIntimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health concern with one out of every four women in the US surviving violence perpetration from a relationship partner (Black et al., 2011). IPV in the family context has detrimental effects on both parents and children in terms of physical health and psychological adjustment. The current study examined the direct links between IPV and children’s externalizing and internalizing behavior problems and the mediating effect of coparenting quality as reported by a sample of 79 racial/ethnic minority (80% African American, 11% Latina, and 9% Multiracial/Other), low-income mothers of children aged 2 to 11 years, the majority of whom were not in a romantic relationship (61%) or cohabitating with their child’s biological father (64%). Twenty-five percent of the sample reported physical/sexual IPV victimization from their child’s father. A modified version of the Coparenting Relationship Scale (CRS; Feinberg, Brown, & Kan, 2012) demonstrated good internal consistency, convergent validity, and divergent validity; however, contrary to the a priori hypotheses, the previously validated factor structure was not supported. Finally, results indicated a direct effect of IPV on internalizing behaviors, but not on externalizing behaviors, and there was an indirect (mediation) effect of coparenting quality on the association between IPV and child externalizing and internalizing behaviors when controlling for parent relationship status. This was the first investigation to examine the mediation of coparenting on the relationship between IPV and child behavior problems in a sample of racial/ethnic minority, low-income mothers who were not necessarily in a relationship or cohabitating with their child’s father. Findings highlight the importance of culturally appropriate self-report measures of coparenting and further research on the implications of IPV in racially and ethnically diverse low-income families.
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