Peer-reviewed article
The Co-Occurrence of Intimate Partner Violence and Violence Against Children: A Systematic Review on Associated Factors in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Isabelle Pearson, Sabrina Page, Cathy Zimmerman, Franziska Meinck, Floriza Gennari et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This systematic review examined 33 studies from 24 low- and middle-income countries to understand how intimate partner violence (IPV) and violence against children (VAC) occur together in families. The review found a strong statistical association between IPV and VAC, meaning families experiencing one form of violence are significantly more likely to experience the other. However, the studies used inconsistent definitions and measurements of violence, making it difficult to identify specific risk factors for co-occurring violence. The review calls for more consistent research approaches to better understand how different forms of family violence relate to each other.
Key points
- All pooled odds ratios showed a significant positive association between intimate partner violence and violence against children
- Almost half of studies focused exclusively on male-to-female IPV and female caregiver-to-child violence, with few examining male caregiver-to-child violence
- Only three studies identified risk factors for co-occurring IPV and VAC, with conflicting findings on maternal age, alcohol and drug use, and parental education
- Significant incongruity exists in violence definitions and measurements used across studies
- Future research should move beyond examining dyadic and unidirectional violence to better understand interrelationships between different forms of family abuse
Limitations
This is a systematic review that synthesises existing studies rather than collecting new data, so it is limited by the quality, consistency, and scope of the underlying research. The review does not provide quantitative data on the prevalence of co-occurring violence or identify specific causal risk factors due to methodological inconsistencies across studies.
Abstract
Violence against women (VAW) and violence against children (VAC) are public health issues of global concern. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a commonly occurring form of VAW and there is evidence to suggest that IPV and VAC frequently co-occur within the same families. This systematic literature review searched for studies published in any language between 1 st January 2000 to 16 th February 2021 and identified 33 studies that provided findings for co-occurring IPV and VAC in 24 low- and middle-income countries (PROSPERO: CRD42020180179). These studies were split into subgroups based on the types of co-occurring violence they present and meta-analyses were conducted to calculate pooled odds ratios (ORs) within these subgroups. Our results indicate a significant association between IPV and VAC, with all pooled ORs showing a significant positive association between the two. Almost half of the studies focused exclusively on co-occurrence between male-to-female IPV and female caregiver-to-child VAC; few authors reported on male caregiver-to-child violence. Only three studies identified risk factors for co-occurring IPV and VAC, and those that did suggested conflicting findings on the risks associated with maternal age, alcohol and drug use, and parental education level. We also found incongruity in the violence definitions and measurements used across studies. Future research should aim to develop more consistent definitions and measurements for co-occurrence and move beyond solely examining dyadic and unidirectional violence occurrence in families; this will allow us to better understand the interrelationships between these different forms of abuse.