Web resource:	http://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/119-1228/1817/
Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Domestic violence as witnessed by New Zealand children
Other Titles:	New Zealand Medical Journal
Authors:	Langley, John Millichamp, Jane Martin, Judy
Keywords:	Mental health;Impact on children and young people
Year:	2006
Publisher:	New Zealand Medical Association
Citation:	119 (1228), 27 January 2006
Notes:	"Please note: the full text of articles less than 6 months old is available only to subscribers. Access is free to articles older than 6 months and abstracts." General overview:This article reports on domestic violence in New Zealand families witnessed by members of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. Objective: The study was designed to get retrospective information when the study members were children, and their experiences and reactions to violence directed from one parent or step parent to the other. It presents the prevalence and nature of this witnessed violence and some of the family and social contexts in which it took place. Methods: Questions on the witnessing of father to mother and mother to father physical violence and threats up to the age of 18 were included in a retrospective family violence interview conducted when the cohort was interviewed at the age of 26. Study members who reported violence between parents were interviewed about the nature, context and consequences of this violence. Discussion:Categorisation of family violence experiences, demographic information, and study member’s mental health are examined. The gender of the study member or of the parent did not predict how upset the study members were but frequency of violence did. Witnesses were more likely than non-witnesses to have diagnoses of anxiety and depression at the age of 21. Results:It found that 24% (one quarter) of the sample reported violence or threats of violence directed from one parent to the other. 9% reported infrequent assaults but 1 in 10 reported more than 5 acts of physical violence. In violent families, 55% reported violence by fathers only, and 16% by mothers only. Almost 90% of the exposed group witnessed violence between natural parents, 80% were exposed to violence before the age of 11. Conclusions:It suggests that a quarter of young adults have been exposed to violence or threats of violence perpetrated by one parent against the other. Public education programs need to highlight that such violence carries risk of harm to all family members.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/14359
ISSN:	1175-8716
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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