Clinical Report—Intimate Partner Violence: The Role of the Pediatrician abstract

The American Academy of Pediatrics and its members recognize the importance of improving the physician’s ability to recognize intimate partner violence (IPV) and understand its effects on child health and development and its role in the continuum of family violence. Pediatricians are in a unique position to identify abused caregivers in pediatric settings and to evaluate and treat children raised in homes in which IPV may occur. Children exposed to IPV are at increased risk of being abused and neglected and are more likely to develop adverse health, behavioral, psychological, and social disorders later in life. Identifying IPV, therefore, may be one of the most effective means of preventing child abuse and identifying caregivers and children who may be in need of treatment and/or therapy. Pediatricians should be aware of the profound effects of exposure to IPV on children. Pediatrics 2010;125:1094–1100 INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE: DEFINITION AND EPIDEMIOLOGY The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines intimate partner violence (IPV) as a pattern of coercive behaviors that may include repeated battering and injury, psychological abuse, sexual assault, progressive social isolation, deprivation, and intimidation.1 These behaviors are perpetrated by someone who is or was involved in an intimate relationship with the victim. Traditionally, research has focused on the subset of IPV that is partner violence against women. It has long been recognized, however, that partner violence against men is a substantial concern as well.2 IPV occurs in heterosexual relationships and although the research is limited, it is also known to occur in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender relationships.3 Patterns of dating violence behavior often start early. Adolescents have a particularly high risk of IPV. Approximately 1 in 5 female high school students report being physically and/or sexually abused by a dating partner.4 A study of college students revealed that nearly half of them had been the victim of emotional, sexual, and/or physical violence by a partner.5 Females 16 to 24 years of age aremore vulnerable to IPV than any other age group.3 Given the complexities and unique dynamics in the teenaged population, further discussion of IPV in adolescent relationships is beyond the scope of this report. Information on adolescent dating violence is available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.6 It is estimated that approximately 1.5 million women and 830 000 men are physically or sexually assaulted by an intimate partner annually in Jonathan D. Thackeray, MD, Roberta Hibbard, MD, and M. Denise Dowd, MD, MPH, THE COMMITTEE ON CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT, AND THE COMMITTEE ON INJURY, VIOLENCE, AND POISON PREVENTION