Exposure to intimate partner violence, core self-evaluations, and psychological adaptation of chinese adolescents

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the link between the exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV), core self-evaluations (CSE), and psychological adaptation of Chinese adolescents, through analysis of the results from the Survey of Children’s Exposure to Domestic Violence Scale, Core Self-Evaluations Scale, and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, involving a total of 597 Chinese middle school students. It is indicated that the exposure to IPV is positively correlated with lower levels of psychological adaptation and CSE, and CSE is positively correlated with higher levels of psychological adaptation. Mediation analysis revealed that CSE partially mediated the association between the exposure to IPV and psychological adaptation. These results suggest that educators and parents should help adolescents tackle their emotional and behavioral problems by reducing the risk of IPV exposure and increasing their CSE.