Peer-reviewed article
Associations between exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) and infant developmental delay: moderating role of women's empowerment at six weeks postpartum.
Nisar A, Park S, Liaqat R, Zaidi A, Malik A et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy and early postpartum affects infant development in Pakistan, and whether women's empowerment can reduce this harm. Among 397 women with anxiety symptoms, exposure to IPV was associated with poorer development across communication, motor skills, problem-solving, and social domains. However, women who felt empowered and in control of household decisions showed much smaller negative effects from IPV exposure, suggesting that empowerment may protect children's development when mothers experience violence.
Key points
- All domains of infant development at six weeks postpartum showed significant negative associations with maternal IPV exposure (adjusted Bs=-0.64 to -1.00)
- Women's empowerment (measured as freedom from family domination and control over decision-making) significantly moderated the relationship between IPV and child development
- Among empowered women, IPV exposure showed no significant association with developmental delay; among non-empowered women, negative associations were much stronger (Bs=-1.31 to -2.13)
- Significant moderating effects of empowerment were found for communication, gross motor, and problem-solving domains, with marginal significance for personal-social domain
- Study involved Pakistani women screened for perinatal anxiety, assessed at six weeks postpartum using the Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ-3)
Limitations
The study included only women with at least mild anxiety symptoms from one hospital setting in Pakistan, so findings may not generalise to all mothers or contexts. The cross-sectional assessment at six weeks postpartum limits ability to establish temporal relationships or track development beyond this early timepoint.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a significant threat to women’s wellbeing and child development, particularly in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite its prevalence, research in LMICs on the effects of IPV on child development remains limited. This study investigates the association between IPV and different domains of child development as well as the moderating role of women’s empowerment. METHODS: Participants included 397 women with at least mild anxiety from a randomised trial of a perinatal anxiety intervention at Holy Family Hospital in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Child development was assessed at six weeks postpartum using the Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ-3), including communication, gross and fine motor skills, problem-solving, and personal-social domains. At six weeks postpartum, women reported on IPV experiences occurring from the beginning of pregnancy to six weeks postpartum, using items from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey, assessing physical (7 items) and emotional (3 items) violence from the beginning of pregnancy to six weeks postpartum. Women’s empowerment was measured using a culturally adapted four-item subscale assessing “freedom from family domination,” which reflects women’s control over household influences and decision-making. Data were analysed using multivariable linear regression. Interaction terms were used to examine whether empowerment at six weeks postpartum moderated the association between IPV and child developmental delay at six weeks postpartum. RESULTS: Our findings show significant, negative associations between IPV scores and all child development scores (adjusted Bs=-0.64 to -1.00, all p-values < 0.05), suggesting poor development. Significant interactions were observed for communication, gross motor, and problem-solving domains (all p-values < 0.05), with marginal significance for the personal-social domain (p = 0.05). Among empowered women, the associations were not significant, while non-empowered women showed stronger negative impacts (adjusting Bs=-1.31 — -2.13, all p-values < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Women’s empowerment may mitigate the adverse effects of IPV on child developmental delay. Empowerment initiatives could improve outcomes for children of mothers experiencing IPV.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Women's empowerment, measured as freedom from family domination and control over household decision-making at six weeks postpartum
- Population
- 397 women with at least mild anxiety symptoms from a perinatal anxiety intervention trial at Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Key finding
IPV exposure was significantly negatively associated with all child development domains (communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem-solving, personal-social) with adjusted Bs=-0.64 to -1.00