Children and youth who witness domestic violence are affected in different ways. Children and youth may display mental, social and physical reactions as a result. Based on their age of development, these following behaviors/reactions may be observed:
Newborn to 5 year old
- Sleep and/or eating disruptions
- Lack of responsiveness/Withdrawn
- Intense separation anxiety
- Inconsolable crying
- Developmental regression, loss of acquired skills
- Intense anxiety, worries or new fears
- Increased aggression and/or impulsive behavior
Ages 6 to 11
- Nightmares, sleep disruptions
- Aggression and difficulty with peers
- Difficulty with concentration and task completion
- Withdrawn/ Emotional numb
- School avoidance and/or truancy
Ages 12 to 18
- School failure
- Impulsive and/or reckless behaviors, e.g.,
- School truancy
- Substance misuse
- Running away
- Involvement in violent or abusive dating relationships
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Withdrawn
Source: National Child Traumatic Stress Network
Exposure to domestic violence can have long-term effects on children and youth leading to post-traumatic stress, poor socialization skills and normalization of violence as a form of problem-solving. To reduce these effects, NCCADV has a program to address the safety and well-being of children and youth.
We provide help by offering:
- Trainings to explain the effects of child and youth exposure to domestic violence;
- Answering questions about related topics like
- the child welfare system response to domestic violence response system,
- Safety planning for children and teens
- current resources catering to children/youth, and
- developing effective child- and youth-centered programming;
- Policy recommendations to broaden services aware of domestic violence and other intersecting issues.
In addition, you can get a FREE order of “The Impact of Domestic Violence on Children and Youth” in English and/or Spanish by going to this link. You can also review other resources for parents/caregivers and child-serving professionals.
