Exploring the Relationship between Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence and an Emotional-Behavioral Disability among Children Involved in the Child Welfare System
Abstract
This three-article dissertation examines the relationship between exposure to IPV and having an emotional-behavioral disability (EBD) among children in the child welfare system. The first article is a scoping review of the literature that explores how IPV and EBD have been defined and measured in the literature as well as the relationship between them. The second article is a cross-sectional study utilizing secondary data from Wave 3 of the second National Child and Adolescent Wellbeing (NSCAW II) Survey. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to analyze a mediational model to examine the role children’s trauma symptoms has on the relationship between exposure to IPV and EBD among 398 children involved in the child welfare system. The third article utilizes data from Wave 1 of the NSCAW II to build on the model from the previous article and uses SEM to analyze a moderated mediation model to examine the impact of maternal depression and social support on EBD among children in the child welfare system (n = 814). The results from this body of research underscores the impact of children’s trauma symptoms on the relationship between exposure to IPV and EBD among children involved in the child welfare system and the interconnectedness of maternal and child well-being.