Post-violence explanation and other associating factors on cognitive appraisals and adjustment after childhood exposure to inter-parental violence among young adults in Hong Kong

Abstract

Children’s exposure to interparental violence is a global concern with approximately 15.5 million children exposed annually. Existing studies have shown that exposure to interparental violence negatively influences children’s well-being, including physical, psychological, cognitive, behavioural, and social aspects. In particular, cognitive appraisals, or children’s interpretation of the interparental violence, influence their adjustment according to the cognitive-contextual framework. Witnesses might feel threatened and helpless, blame themselves as being the cause of the interparental violence, or they may be more accepting of violent behavior in the future. It is believed that any of these possible factors associated with cognitive appraisal processing due to exposure to interparental violence may interfere with the children’s outcomes in the future. This study was conducted to explore various factors, including post-violence explanations, types and context of the violence, degree of exposure, and perceived triangulation with a parent and stability of the parental relationship, which could be associated with witnesses’ cognitive appraisals and mental and physical health outcomes after exposure to interparental violence in childhood. The current study was part of a large-scale community survey conducted among young adults in the Hong Kong population. The survey was administered as a cross-sectional quantitative design. The data collection was from 1st April 2017 to 31st December, 2017. A total of 521 young adults were recruited in the survey, aged 18 to 24 years old. Data were collected from eight universities as well as community youth centres in Hong Kong. Among our participants, 19.2% were exposed to one or more forms of interparental violence in childhood. Exposure to interparental violence was found to be associated with higher perceived threats, poorer coping efficacy, higher depression, more trouble sleeping, and less energy in adulthood. After controlling for the possible confounding factors (source of participants – university or centre; child maltreatment history; and parents’ educational level), different types and contexts of interparental violence, degree of exposure, perceived triangulation, and stability of parental relationship were shown to have significant associations with cognitive appraisals, depression levels, and somatic symptoms in adulthood. Among the exposed participants, 25.3% received some form of post-violence explanation, and 52.6% received no explanation by any of the parties after the interparental violence incidence. The small sample of those receiving explanations made it difficult to detect differences in types of post-violence explanations. The findings of this study fill a gap in a previously unexplored area of research, increase the community’s awareness of the possible long-term links of interparental violence on outcomes in adulthood, and provide direction for future explorations regarding the influence of post-violence explanations on children exposed to interparental violence.