The Mediating Role of Well-Being at School in the Association Between Family Violence and Psychosocial Problems

Family violence (i.e. child abuse and neglect, and intimate partner violence) can have a detrimental impact on children's development. It often leads to psychosocial problems and can also negatively affect children’s well-being at school (i.e. school connectedness, well-being with teachers, and well-being with classmates). Lower well-being at school may further exacerbate the development of psychosocial problems. The current study examines the mediating role of well-being at school in the relationship between exposure to and frequency of family violence and psychosocial problems. Participants were 774 Dutch children aged 8-18 years (M age = 11.95; 53.6% female), with 270 children exposed to family violence and 504 children not exposed to family violence. Children (and their parents) completed questionnaires on family violence, well-being at school and psychosocial problems. Mediation analyses within a Structural Equation Modeling framework revealed that well-being at school appeared to mediate the association between exposure to family violence and psychosocial problems (β = -.07, p < .001). Well-being at school did not mediate the association between frequency of family violence and psychosocial problems within the group of children exposed to family violence (β = .07, p = .11). The results suggest that exposure to family violence, regardless of the number of incidents, has a negative impact on children’s well-being at school, which in turn can negatively affect their psychosocial functioning. This study acknowledges the importance of ending family violence and improving children’s well-being at school.