A review of family interventions for intimate partner violence with a child focus or child component Cynthia F. Rizo a, ⁎, Rebecca J. Macy a , Dania M. Ermentrout a , Natalie B. Johns b a School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States b Carolinas Rehabilitation, Charlotte, NC, United States abstract article info Article history: Received 26 October 2010 Received in revised form 12 February 2011 Accepted 15 February 2011 Available online 21 February 2011 Keywords: Intimate partner violence Domestic violence Children Family Intervention Literature review Given the mounting support for the connection between IPV exposure and negative sequelae for children, the development and empirical testing of interventions for IPV-exposed children has been deemed a critical priority. However, it is difficult for researchers to build a body of research concerned with interventions for IPV-exposed children without a critical summary and analysis of existing research. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a comprehensive literature review and a critical analysis of the literature concerned with interventions that either directly or indirectly target IPV-exposed children. Our search identified 31 articles for review, and detailed summaries of all articles are provided, including the program focus, study design, sample information, and key study findings, as well as study strengths and limitations. Our analysis determined four categories of interventions in this literature review: counseling/therapy, crisis/outreach, parenting, and multicomponent intervention programs. Our findings also show that researchers have mainly tried to address needs of IPV-exposed children by offering services to children directly, and/or to caregivers who are mothers. We discuss summaries of the intervention program's foci and service strategies. In addition, we offer recommendations for future intervention research. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 2. Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 3. Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 3.1. Counseling and therapy interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 3.1.1. Overview of counseling and therapy interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 3.1.2. Methodology of counseling and therapy intervention studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 3.1.3. Outcomes of counseling and therapy intervention studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 3.1.4. Strengths and limitations of counseling and therapy intervention studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 3.2. Crisis and outreach interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 3.2.1. Overview of crisis and outreach interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 3.2.2. Methodology of crisis and outreach intervention studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 3.2.3. Outcomes of crisis and outreach intervention studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 3.2.4. Strengths and limitations of crisis and outreach intervention studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 3.3. Parenting interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 3.3.1. Overview of parenting interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 3.3.2. Methodology of parenting intervention studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 3.3.3. Outcomes of parenting intervention studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 3.3.4. Strengths and limitations of parenting intervention studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 3.4. Multicomponent interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 3.4.1. Overview of multicomponent interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 3.4.2. Methodology of multicomponent intervention studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 Aggression and Violent Behavior 16 (2011) 144–166 ⁎ Corresponding author at: School of Social Work University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building, 325 Pittsboro Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27510, United States. Tel.: +1 305 244 7046. E-mail address: cfraga@email.unc.edu (C.F. Rizo). 1359-1789/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2011.02.004 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Aggression and Violent Behavior