Co-occurrence of Domestic Violence and Child Abuse: Individual and Family Factors

Child protection services (CPSs) are increasingly called on to work with families in which domestic violence and child abuse co-occur, yet little is known about the profiles of such families. The aim of this study is to document the characteristics of children, parents, families and forms of child abuse and domestic violence associated with co-occurrence. We draw on a a sample of 1025 children that had been indentified by a French-language CPS agency in Montreal, Canada. The sample is divided into 3 groups: (1) children exposed to domestic violence, but not themselves abused; (2) abused or neglected children who were also exposed domestic violence; and (3) abused children not exposed to domestic violence. The results indicate that the co-occurrence of domestic violence and child abuse is associated with more severe abuse, more serious consequences to the child and a number of parental- and family-risk factors.