Asking Routinely About Intimate Partner Violence in a Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinic: A Qualitative Study

• Published in: Journal of family violence 2014, Vol.29 (1), p.67-78
• Main Authors: Hultmann, Ole, Möller, Johan, Ormhaug, Silje M., Broberg, Anders
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescents; Applied Psychology; Care and treatment; Children; Children & youth; Clinical Psychology; Clinics; Conjugal violence; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Domestic violence; Intimate partner violence . Child psychiatry . Routine questions . Obstacles; Issues in Assessment of Family Violence; Law and Psychology; Medical treatment; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Psychiatry; Psychological aspects; Psychologically abused children; Psychotherapy and Counseling; Qualitative analysis; Qualitative research; Quality of Life Research; Questionnaires; Teenagers; Tillämpad psykologi; Violence; Wife abuse
• ISSN: 0885-7482; 1573-2851; 1573-2851
• DOI: 10.1007/s10896-013-9554-5

Among children visiting child and adolescent psychiatric clinics (CAP), the prevalence of exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) is reported to be approximately 25 %. The extent to which CAP clinicians are aware of this violence, however, is unclear. Some researchers recommend asking about IPV at intake, both to raise disclosure rates and to ensure adequate treatment. Many clinicians are reluctant to do so as a matter of routine when there is no indication of occurrence of IPV in the family. When we interviewed 14 clinicians about their experiences using a standard questionnaire about IPV, three themes emerged: (a) constraint (the questions hinder the development of good relationships with patients), (b) uncertainty (upon reflection, screening is acknowledged as important, but somewhat deficient), and (c) utility (the questionnaire provides a useful framework). Our findings indicate that clinicians’ negative feelings and ambivalence make the implementation of routinely asking about IPV a long process.