From Medical Xpress comes this piece from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston on its new research showing the impact of domestic violence on children in the household, and on ways to alleviate stress that would aid mental health and parenting:
“Parents who recently experienced intimate partner violence reported more parenting stress and higher potential for child maltreatment, and were less likely to use positive parenting strategies, according to UTHealth Houston research published Aug. 26, 2024, in JAMA Pediatrics.
‘Our findings demonstrate the collateral damage of domestic violence—that the negative consequences are not limited to the couple and instead have the potential to affect how they parent, and ultimately the health of their children. We must expend every effort to prevent this public health problem,’ said Jeff Temple, Ph.D., first author of the study. . . .
Temple said the results of the study emphasize the need to expand resources for people in violent relationships, encourage them with positive parenting strategies, and give them the tools to become better parents. Doing so, he said, can hopefully stop the intergenerational cycle of violence. The study’s findings also suggest that increasing efforts to treat stress and anxiety of people experiencing intimate partner violence could help avoid potential maltreatment of their children and promote healthy development.
‘If you look at some of the systematic and structural factors that relate to both violence and parenting, it’s harder to be a good parent, and to avoid violence, if you are not making a livable wage, if you live in unsafe housing, if you live in a community that is experiencing a lot of violence, if you have to work three jobs,’ said Temple.”
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