Physical and sexual intimate partner violence negatively affects women's mental health and their children's behaviour.

Context Seven million women each year experience physical, sexual or psychological abuse by an intimate partner and approximately 16% of children are exposed to IPV (also known as domestic violence) during their lifetime. 2 Women who experience IPV report more mental health symptoms (eg, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress) and physical health conditions (eg, chronic pain). Children who have been exposed to IPV are more likely to experience internalising and externalising behavioural problems. The purpose of this study was to examine whether physical and sexual abuse were related to maternal mental health, risk of lethality, chronic pain and children’s behavioural functioning.