Mental health outcomes associated with childhood exposure to domestic violence and abuse in low-and middle-income countries

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Abstract

Background: childhood exposure to domestic violence and abuse (DVA) has been consistently linked to adverse mental health outcomes in high-income countries, but robust, standardised evidence from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains limited.

Aims: this study investigates the relationship between childhood exposure to DVA and mental health outcomes in adolescence and early adulthood across ten LMICs, addressing major gaps in global prevalence data and cross-national comparability.

Methods: nationally representative data from the CDC’s Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS) were analysed for ten LMICs across Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, South-Eastern Asia, and Eastern Europe. Exposure to DVA was defined as seeing or hearing physical violence between caregivers. Internalising and externalising mental health symptoms were assessed through bivariate analysis and binary logistic regression.

Results: prevalence of childhood DVA exposure ranged from 11.8% (Honduras) to 30.7% (Malawi), with nearly 20 million adolescents and young adults estimated to have been exposed across the ten countries. Exposure was consistently associated with significantly higher odds of psychological distress, suicidal thoughts, risky behaviours, and perpetration of violence.

Conclusion: childhood exposure to DVA is widespread and strongly associated with adverse mental health outcomes across diverse LMIC contexts. These findings underscore the need to strengthen data systems, trauma-informed services, and integrated policy responses to address this under-recognised form of harm.

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Contributors

Author: Rebecca Jane Harris

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