Intimate partner violence against Peruvian women and adequate regulation of emotions and behaviors of their children between 24 and 59 months of age: A cross-sectional study at the national level.

OBJECTIVE: Determine the association between intimate partner violence against Peruvian women and adequate regulation of the emotions and behaviors of children between 24 and 59 months old. METHODS: This cross-sectional study analyzed secondary data obtained from the ENDES-2019. The dependent variable was the regulation of emotions and behaviors in 24 to 59-month-old children. The independent variable was partner violence (physical, sexual, verbal or psychological) against mothers at some point in their life. Prevalence ratios (PR) were calculated and adjusted with their 95% confidence interval (CI) to evaluate the association between intimate partner violence and adequate regulation of emotions and behaviors. RESULTS: Data from 8,473, 15 to 49-year-old mothers and their children aged 24 to 59 months were analyzed. Intimate partner violence was reported by 57.1% of the women, and 31.6% of the children showed adequate regulation of emotions and behaviors. The probability of children of mothers who were victims of intimate partner violence adequately regulating their emotions and behaviors was low (aPR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.75-0.88), with an aPR = 0.82 (95% CI: 0.76-0.89) and an aPR = 0.84 (95% CI: 0.76-0.93) for those with mothers suffering psychological or physical violence, respectively, with no differences in children of mothers suffering sexual violence by their partner. CONCLUSIONS: Six out of 10 Peruvian women have suffered partner violence at some point in their life, and only three out of 10 children between 24 and 59 months old adequately regulate their emotions and behaviors. Children of mothers suffering physical and verbal or psychological violence by their partners were less likely to regulate their emotions and behaviors adequately.

Association between maternal depression and emotion and behavior regulation in Peruvian children: A population-based study.

Depression is more frequent in women, affecting the early stages of child development. This study aimed to determine the association between maternal depression and self-regulation of emotions and behaviors in Peruvian children under five years. A cross-sectional analytical study of data collected by the 2019 Demographic and Family Health Survey (ENDES) was conducted. The outcome variable was emotion and behavior regulation in children aged 24 to 59 months, and exposure was the presence of depression in women aged 15 to 49 years during the 14 days prior to the survey using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). A generalized linear model of the binomial family was used for reporting crude prevalence ratios and adjusted. The overall prevalence of children who did not self-regulate their emotions and behaviors was 68.8%, while 3.8% of the mothers had moderate depressive symptoms and 2.2% severe symptoms. Regarding the association of interest, moderate and severe depressive symptoms of mothers decreased the probability of children regulating emotions and behaviors in the first model, whereas in the second model, an association was only found with severe depressive symptoms. In conclusion, children of mothers with moderate and severe depressive symptoms had a lower probability of self-regulating their emotions and behaviors. Therefore, it is necessary to develop maternal education, nutritional and social support programs and mental health strategies from the first level of care aimed at reducing social, economic and child factors to reduce the risk of depression in mothers and low early childhood development, which could reduce the risk of developing mental health disorders in adolescence and adulthood.