The Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Children's Emotional Development: A Cross-Sectional Analysis in South Africa

Over recent years, research has focused increasing attention on factors influencing children’s emotional developmental milestones. However, relatively little of this research has focused on children in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), or on the youngest cohorts of children who have not yet reached school age. This secondary data analysis is based on the HPTN 068 HIV prevention study and evaluates the impact of exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) on Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) scores for a cohort of children living in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. Intimate partner violence is measured through a historical variable, in which having ever experienced IPV results in a positive exposure. The data analysis studies the association between a history of IPV and mean CBCL scores, and examines means for the attention and emotional CBCL sub-scores separately utilizing T-tests to analyze differences. We also examined differences across different tertiles of the CBCL scores. The primary results found a slight and statistically insignificant but consistent positive correlation between exposure to intimate partner violence and higher CBCL scores for both the attention and emotional subscores. Furthermore, logistic regressions measuring the effect of IPV on only the highest tertile of CBCL scorers also found a positive correlation, although also statistically insignificant. These results emphasize the importance of identifying and aiding those who may be experiencing intimate partner violence. Moreover, this sheds light on the importance of aiding not only those experiencing intimate partner violence, but also providing resources for children who may be affected. As this is still a relatively new field of research, further studies, particularly in LMICs, will be necessary to confirm and expand upon these results.Bachelor of Science in Public Healt