Children Witnessing Parental Domestic Violence May Have Increased Risk For Depression, Anxiety Disorders, Or Substance Abuse Disorders, Researchers Say

HealthDay (4/27, Preidt) reports, “Witnessing violence between your parents is traumatic when it happens, but” research indicates that “trauma can raise your risk of depression and other mental health problems.” Included in the study were “more than 17,700 Canadian adults,” 326 of whom “said they witnessed parental domestic violence more than 10 times before age 16, which was defined as chronic.” Among participants “exposed to chronic parental domestic violence during childhood, 22.5% had major depression at some point in their life, 15% had an anxiety disorder and nearly 27% had a substance abuse disorder,” compared to “rates among people with no history of violence between their parents” of “9%, 7% and 19%, respectively.” The findings were published online April 12 in the Journal of Family Violence.

Related Links:

— “Kids Who Witness Domestic Violence May Suffer Mentally for Decades ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, April 27, 2022

Posted in In The News.