Intimate Partner Violence Victimization and Parenting Stress: Assessing the Mediating Role of Depressive Symptoms

• NCJ Number: 228971
• Journal: Violence Against Women Volume: 15 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2009 Pages: 1380-1401
• Author(s): Lynette M. Renner
• Date Published: November 2009
• Length: 22 pages
• Grant Number(s): R01 HD39148; K01 HD41703-01
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD); University of Missouri Alumni Assoc Research Enhancement Award
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined relationships between intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization and parenting stress.

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the direct relationships between physiological and psychological IPV victimization and women's self-reported parenting stress and parental warmth with the mediating relationship of depressive symptoms. Results show that recent incidents of psychological IPV were associated with later self-reported parenting stress, but recent incidents of physical IPV were not significantly related to later levels of stress, suggesting that psychological IPV might have more lasting effects on parenting stress. Results also revealed that women's experiences with physical and psychological IPV were not associated with increased or decreased levels of parental warmth. Depressive symptoms were found to mediate the relationship between psychological IPV and later parenting stress. Data were taken from the Illinois Families Study, a 5-year longitudinal study of the same group of families. Tables, notes, and references