Exposure to intimate partner violence and children's psychological adjustment, cognitive functioning, and social competence: A review

Research over the past 30 years has established that exposure to intimate partner violence poses significant risks to children's adjustment and functioning. It is also clear, however, that there is considerable variability in children's outcomes, and research in the past decade has increasingly focused on understanding this variability. This paper provides a review of recent research that examines relations between children's exposure to intimate partner violence and their psychological adjustment, cognitive functioning, and social competence. Emphasis is placed on studies that examine risk and protective factors for children's functioning in the context of exposure to intimate partner violence. In addition to highlighting strengths of recent studies, limitations of existing research and future directions are considered. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.