Long-Term Relationships among Domestic Violence, Maternal Mental Health and Parenting, and Preschool Children's Behavior Problems

Using 4 waves of a longitudinal dataset, this study tested whether maternal mental health and parenting at Year 3 mediate the effects of domestic violence at Year 1 on preschool children's internalizing or externalizing behavior problems at Year 5. After controlling for preexisting child effects and parenting stress, structural equation models revealed that maternal mental health mediated the effects of domestic violence for children's externalizing behavior problems. Parenting, specifically spanking, mediated those effects for both behavior problems of children. Domestic violence had direct effects on both types of behavior problems of children. These findings highlight the long-term effects of domestic violence on preschool children and the need for early intervention and prevention efforts for the children in violent families.