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Children Who Experience DV | Age Specific Indicators
Women's Center of RI's Children Enrichment Program

Children Who Experience Domestic Violence
Witnessing domestic violence at any age can inhibit emotional, physical, cognitive, and social development (see indicators below).
Emotional Indicators
Social Indicators
Physical Indicators
Cognitive Indicators

Shame
Guilt
Fear
Anger
Depression
Anxiety
Embarassment

 Isolation
Unhealthy Relationships
Difficulty Establishing Trust
Difficulty Managing Emotions
Difficulty Setting Boundaries
Passivity
Bullying

Frequently Ill
Agressive Play
Tired
Change in Toileting Habits
Difficulty Sleeping
Change in Eating Habits
Self Harm

 Short Attention Span
Lethargic
Poor Academic Performance
Memory Loss




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  • The negative consequences of abuse and violent home life include depression, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts and behavior, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, and criminal behavior.
  • Research has demonstrated that there is a link between physical abuse and street youth violent behavior.
  • Coercive/abusive families provide training for antisocial behaviors. Children in these circumstances come to model the behavior of their parents and adopt interpersonal violence as a strategy or tactic. Such victimization teaches children that extreme violence is an effective method of dispute settlement and conflict management.
  • Family violence may result in youth who experience consequences including running away, homelessness, association with deviant peers, and participation in a number of deviant activities to support themselves on the streets.
  • Previous experiences of being seriously assaulted by family members, who are supposed to be close to them, leads to a generalization of these experiences in ways that render youth unable to identify the cues that point to potential assailants in the future.
  • Identifying with the abuser is a common defense mechanism in children who are either abused or who witness abuse at home.

    Age Specific Indicators

    Children may manifest the following Age Specific Indictors resulting from the experience of violence in the home:
    0-2 years
    3-4 years
    5-9 years
    Basic need for attachment disrupted Somatic or psychosomatic complaints Vacillate between being eager to please and being hostile

    Routines around feeding/sleeping are disturbed

    		 Regression Verbal about home life
    Injuries while "caught in crossfire" Irritability Developmental Delays
    Irritability or inconsolable crying Fearful of being alone Externalized behavior problems
    Frequent illness Extreme separation anxiety Inadequete social skill development
    Difficulty sleeping Developmental delays Gender role modeling creats conflict/confusion
    Diarrhea Sympathetic toward mother
    Developmental delays


    10-13 years
    14-18 years
    Behavior problems become more serious Internalized and externalized behavior problems can become extreme
    Increased internalized behavior difficulties: depression, isolation & withdrawal Dating relationships may reflect violence learned or witnessed at home
    Emotional difficulties: shame, fear, confusion, & rage Problems with substance abuse
    Poor social skills Truancy
    Developmental delays Joining gangs
    Protective of "weak" mother Acting out sexually
    Guarded/secretive about family Running away
      Suicide

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    • PO Box 603300, Providence, RI 02906 | Business: (401) 861-2761 | 24-Hour HelpLine: (401) 861-2760