Children who see their mothers physically abused may often suffer their own emotional and behavioral problems in response, new study findings show.

The study, according to the researchers, adds to evidence that witnessing violence in the home can have serious consequences for children’s mental health and ability to function in daily life.

“The findings suggest that systematic efforts are needed to ensure that mental health needs are identified and addressed appropriately in children exposed to this violence,” they report in the journal Pediatrics.

The researchers, led by Dr. Andrea L. Hazen of the Child and Adolescent Services Research Center in San Diego, based their conclusions on data collected from 2020 U.S. families who had been investigated by Child Protective Services for suspected child abuse or neglect.

They found that mothers who said they’d been seriously abused by their partner - beaten, choked or threatened with a weapon - generally reported more emotional and behavioral problems in their 4- to 14-year-old children.

A mother’s own behavior did play a role in this association, the study found. That is, women who were physically abused were more likely than other women to be aggressive toward their children or to use physical punishment, and this partially explained the higher rates of depression, anxiety and aggressive behavior among their children.

However, there was still a clear effect of simply witnessing abuse, Hazen and her colleagues found.

The findings, they conclude, highlight a need for child-welfare agencies and programs aimed at intimate partner violence to ensure that they address the mental health needs of children who witness violence.

Pediatricians, they add, also need to do their part by routinely screening mothers for intimate partner violence, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“To provide optimal care for the overall physical and emotional well-being of children,” the researchers write, “providers in these settings must have a comprehensive understanding of children’s home lives.”

SOURCE: Pediatrics, January 2006.