Citation

Visser M, Schoemaker K, de Schipper C, Lamers-Winkelman F, Finkenauer C. J. Child Adolesc. Trauma 2016; 9(2): 115-125.

Affiliation

Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands ; EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s40653-015-0071-y

PMID

27257468

Abstract

This cross-sectional study examined the hypothesis that parental psychopathology in Interparental Violence (IPV) families crosses over to children, because parental psychopathology spills over to parental functioning. In a high-risk sample of IPV exposed families, we tested whether parental psychopathology spills over to parental availability, which, in turn, shows a crossover effect to children's trauma-related symptoms. The study population consisted of 78 IPV exposed children (4-12 years), and their 65 custodial parents referred to outpatient Children's Trauma Centers in the Netherlands for intervention. Consistent with our hypotheses, parental psychopathology was negatively related to parental availability, suggesting a spillover effect. Although parental psychopathology was not associated with children's trauma-related symptoms directly, we found evidence for the predicted indirect, crossover effects. We found an indirect crossover effect from parental psychopathology to children's trauma-related anxiety, depression, and anger, through the spillover effect of parental availability. Clinical implications for treatment and study limitations are discussed.

Language: en