Intimate partner violence (IPV) is defined as physical, sexual, or psychological violence perpetrated by a romantic partner. Estimates of prevalence in heterosexual couples range from 10% to over 20% (Hien & Ruglass, 2009), and pregnant women are at similar risk of IPV compared to other women (Gürkan, 2020). IPV exposure can have negative physical and mental health consequences for both women and children. With children, a robust body of literature links maternal pre- and postnatal IPV exposure to behavioral and physiological self-regulatory difficulties in children (for a review, see Bogat et al., 2023). Maternal sensitivity, on the other hand, is an important parenting factor that promotes children’s adaptive self-regulation (for a review, see Deans, 2020). The current study (N = 123) examines if maternal sensitivity can protect children from the impact of pre- and postnatal IPV exposure on their regulatory capacities, measured physiologically (resting RSA) and behaviorally (externalizing behavior), at age 2.5 years. Findings revealed that only IPV exposure during infancy significantly predicted increased child externalizing behavior. Furthermore, this effect was moderated by maternal sensitivity such that there was no such association between infancy IPV exposure and higher externalizing behavior for children of mothers rated as highly sensitive. Pre- and postnatal IPV exposure were not significantly associated with child resting RSA. Findings suggest that infancy is a sensitive period in which children are at heightened risk for behavioral dysregulation due to IPV exposure, but that parenting behavior can buffer the impact of IPV on children during this time.
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