Children Who Witness Domestic Violence: A Review of Empirical Literature

Abstract

This article presents a review of the empirical literature examining the initial effects of witnessing domestic violence on children's functioning. Previous reviews of the literature suggested that witnessing was harmful to children, but they also indicated that the state of knowledge was quite limited due to an emphasis on exploratory methodologies, reliance on untested theories, and inconsistent findings. Nearly a decade of research has been conducted since the most recent review. Although results are still somewhat inconclusive regarding children's social, cognitive, and physical development, the findings of recently conducted investigations, when combined and compared with the previously reviewed literature, suggest much less equivocation concerning the negative effects of witnessing domestic violence on children's emotional and behavioral development. Theoretical developments and methodological refinements appear related to the recent findings.