| Rates of children's interparental violence exposure have been increasing and exposure has been related to children's adjustment difficulties. Research investigating relationships between interparental violence, attachment, and social competence has produced contradictory findings. Further, co-occurrence rates between interparental violence and child maltreatment are high and the impact of maltreatment on the adjustment of exposed children remains unclear.;This research investigated mother-child attachment and social competence in children from families with interparental violence, and compared characteristics of children exposed to interparental violence alone to those with exposure and co-occurring maltreatment. No associations were found between the frequency of interparental physical and psychological violence, attachment and social competence. Many child, caregiver/household, environmental, case, and service utilization characteristics significantly differed between children who experienced only interparental violence and those who additionally experienced maltreatment. Generally, children with concurrent experiences demonstrated increased difficulties and risk. Implications of these findings for policy and practice are discussed. |
