Exposed to domestic violence during childhood: What representations of violence, parental attitudes and attachment in adulthood?

The consequences of exposure to domestic violence are now better documented by research. They affect every sphere of the cognitive, emotional and social development of children and adolescents, right through to post-traumatic stress. A risk factor in development, the age at which children are subjected to domestic violence seems to increase their difficulties, particularly with regard to the attachment relationship. The aim of this article is to analyse, retrospectively, the representations of violence and parental attitudes of adults exposed to domestic violence in early childhood. The aim was also to determine whether attachment in adulthood was linked to early exposure to domestic violence. One hundred and fifteen people, eight men and one hundred and seven women (M = 36.9 years, E.T = 13.44) took part in the study. Two groups of participants were formed, one exposed to domestic violence in early childhood (between 0 and 3 years of age, N = 55) and one exposed later (between 4 and 14 years of age, N = 60). The participants completed an online survey consisting of several questionnaires. They completed the Children Perception of Interparental Conflict (CPIC, Cyr & Fortin, 2001), which captured their views on the intensity of the violence, their perception of the threat and the feeling of blame they had experienced during their childhood. Representations of parental care during childhood were measured using the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI, Mohr, Preisig, Fento and Ferrero, 1999). The Relationship Scale Questionnaire (RSQ, Gu & eacute;deney, Fermanian and Bifulco, 2010) was completed to capture the attachment relationships they maintain in adulthood. Analyses of variance showed that early exposure to domestic violence had a significant effect only on feelings of blame. On the other hand, the duration of exposure to domestic violence was significantly related to the adult's representations of paternal attitudes, particularly those relating to care, and also to feelings of blame. In our sample, the length of exposure to domestic violence appears to be an additional factor of vulnerability to domestic violence. Early childhood is a key period for detecting and curbing future and lasting difficulties in the adaptation of children exposed to violence.