ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1418332
This article is part of the Research TopicMental Health of Vulnerable Groups: Predictors, Mechanisms, and InterventionsView all 24 articles
Interparental Violence: Child Emotional Awareness, Protective Factors, and Symptom Profiles in a Comparative Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Sant Joan de Déu Hospital, Barcelona, Spain
- 2Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- 3Departamento de Psicología Social y Psicología Cuantitativa. Facultad de Psicología. Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- 4Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, España, Spain
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Objective: This study aimed to analyze the differences between children exposed to interparental violence (EIPV) and non-EIPV children aged 8-12, in a) Emotional awareness (EA), b) Protective factors of resilience (external and internal) c) Externalizing/internalizing symptoms, somatic complaints and moods. Method: A descriptive design study was conducted with a total of 115 participants (60 boys and 55 girls) from three Child and Adolescent Mental Health Centers in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, Spain. Student's t-test was used to compare the EIPV and non-EIPV groups, and logistic regression models were employed to identify the most relevant factors associated with EIPV. Results: EIPV children exhibited significantly lower scores in differentiating emotions (DIE) and analyzing one's own emotions (ANE) compared to non-EIPV children. Additionally, EIPV children demonstrated more social skills problems, lower loneliness/social anxiety, lower resilience, mainly in empathy and internal protective factors, autonomy, and reduced self-esteem. They also reported higher levels of externalizing and internalizing symptoms, somatic complaints, and negative mood states such as fear, sadness, and anger. The variables that explained group membership in EIPV were DIE, ANE, and total externalizing symptoms. Conclusions: This study provides valuable insights into the role of EA, symptoms, and protective factors in EIPV children in a clinical sample. Lower EA, fewer protective factors, and higher levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms in EIPV children when compared to their non-EIPV counterparts. Including a structures evaluation of EA and Protective Factors in the EIPV child population would improve diagnostic accuracy of trauma and the design of specific psychotherapies interventions aimed at reducing symptoms and promoting mental well-being in children aged 8 to 12 exposed to IPV.
Keywords: emotional awareness, Child Abuse, Exposure to intimate partner violence, Symptoms, Protective factors
Received: 17 Oct 2024; Accepted: 16 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ortiz Jiménez, Gómez-Benito, Lamarca, Liz and Ochoa. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Eva Maria Ortiz Jiménez, Sant Joan de Déu Hospital, Barcelona, Spain
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.