Effect of intimate partner violence on child growth and development in East Africa

Abstract

This study examined whether maternal IPV victimisation in East Africa affected child growth and development. The study used a pooled sample of 20,620 women and their 29,756 children aged below five years. The sample was drawn from the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) conducted in five East African countries (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda) between 2014 and 2020. The study focused on three indicators: birth weight, height-for-age z-score, and early childhood development index. To identify the causal effects of maternal IPV victimisation, the study used two-stage instrumental variable regression. Maternal IPV victimisation was instrumented using the mother’s parental IPV history in her childhood. Results showed that maternal IPV victimisation in East Africa had no significant effect on a child’s birth weight. On the other hand, maternal IPV victimisation in East Africa, especially in Kenya, increased the odds of stunting by 1.2 times; it also reduced children’s height-for-age z-scores by an average of 0.4 deviation units. In addition, maternal IPV victimisation in East Africa, especially in Uganda, impeded early childhood development, especially the development of numeracy and literacy skills. Children born to mothers experiencing IPV were 0.7 times less likely to be on track in their early childhood development. Suggestively, this study found maternal IPV victimisation affected child growth and development by inducing psychological stress on both the mother and her children. In conclusion, maternal IPV victimisation increased the likelihood child stunting in East Africa. Therefore, there is a need for government and policy makers to integrate measures targeting maternal IPV victimisation within existing measures seeking to address child growth and development in East Africa. Moreover, there is a need to provide psychosocial support to IPV victims – mothers and their children.