The role of maternal depressive symptoms and maternal engagement as mechanisms between intimate partner violence exposure during infancy and social functioning in middle childhood

The mechanisms within the home environment by which early life experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) might affect children’s social functioning remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which maternal depressive symptoms and maternal engagement (at 4 years postpartum) mediated the relationship between children’s early life experiences of IPV (first year of life) and social functioning in middle childhood (10 years of age). A second aim was to determine whether child sex moderated these relationships. Drawing data from a community sample of 1,507 Australian mothers and their firstborn children, we found that IPV occurring in the first 12 months of a child’s life was associated with high maternal depressive symptoms at 4 years postpartum, which in turn were associated with lower child social skills, higher peer problems, peer victimisation and bullying at age 10 years. Higher levels of maternal engagement at 4 years was associated with higher social skills at age 10 years. The patterns of relationships between IPV, maternal depressive symptoms, maternal engagement and social functioning were found to be similar for boys and girls. The findings highlight the importance of supporting mothers’ mental health and engagement in home learning during early childhood to facilitate children’s social development following IPV exposure.