Abstract

Introduction: Intimate partner violence is a global public health problem. Many children worldwide are living with a mother who is a victim of intimate partner violence, a situation associated with a serious risk of short- as well as long-term consequences to children’s health and development.

There is a need for effective interventions for children exposed to intimate partner violence. Existing interventions in Sweden have shown positive but insufficient outcomes. Extended knowledge on lasting outcomes, aiming at improving established interventions is needed.

Method: The current study is an effectiveness study investigating the outcomes of two established group interventions for children exposed to intimate partner violence and their non-offending parent. The study included 50 children, 24 girls and 26 boys, aged 4-13 years. Background information, child and parental mental health problems and trauma symptoms were assessed pre- and post-treatment, as well as 6 and 12 months post treatment.

Results: The results indicate that children benefit from the group interventions, although post intervention a majority of mothers still reported symptoms in their children at clinical levels. Late improvements were registered at the follow-up assessments. The findings indicate that mothers benefit from these primarily child-oriented interventions, showing considerable and lasting reduction of symptoms.

Discussion: Currently data from the 6- and 12-months follow-up assessments are being analyzed. Preliminary results include paths of continuous symptoms reduction for children and mothers. Possible associations between child and maternal levels of symptoms, as well as methodological and clinical implications will be discussed.