Study finds witnessing abuse of sibling can lead to mental health issues
A new study from the University of New Hampshire showed that
children who witness the abuse of a brother or sister by a parent can be just
as traumatised as those witnessing violence by a parent against another parent.
According to the study, such exposure is associated with mental health issues
like depression, anxiety and anger.
The findings of the study were published in the journal 'Child
Abuse and Neglect'.
"When we hear about exposure to family violence, we
usually think about someone being the victim of direct physical abuse or
witnessing spousal assault," said Corinna Tucker, professor of human
development and family studies.
"But many children witness abuse of a sibling without being a
direct victim and it turns out we should be thinking more about these dynamics
when we tally the effects of family violence
exposure," added Tucker.
In their study, the researchers used the combined data from three
national surveys to look more closely at the experiences of over 7000 children
between the ages of one month to 17 years old.
This included any incident in which a child saw a parent hit,
beat, kick or physically hurt (not including spanking) a sibling in their
household over the course of their lifetime. Of the 263 (3.7 per cent) youth
who had been exposed to parental abuse against a sibling (EPAS), more witnessed
abuse by fathers (70 per cent) than mothers.
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