The Psychobiology of Children Exposed to Marital Violence

Abstract

We examined the psychological and physiological functioning of a community sample of children exposed to marital violence, comparing them to a clinical comparison group without marital violence exposure. Results replicated past findings of elevated levels of trauma symptomatology in this population. Further, children exposed to marital violence differed significantly from comparison children with respect to sympathetic nervous system functioning and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning. Specifically, elevations were seen in heart rate and salivary cortisol levels, but not in orthostatic challenge response or blood pressure. These results indicate that children exposed to marital violence have a different physiological presentation than controls and may be physiologically "traumatized" by virtue of marital violence exposure.