Prior research has found that co-occurring forms of family violence exacerbate the effect of intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure on children’s externalizing behaviors. Although exposure to animal cruelty (AC) is prevalent among children living in households where IPV occurs, no study to date has tested whether and to what extent AC moderates the relationship between IPV exposure and externalizing behaviors. The current study evaluates whether the associations between exposure to IPV and several indicators of externalizing behavior vary as a function of children’s AC exposure and engagement with pets. Participants included 204 mother–child dyads recruited from IPV services (children aged 7–12 years; 47% female; 77.5% ethnic minority). We conducted a separate multiple moderation analysis for each externalizing outcome (rule-breaking behavior, aggressive behavior, oppositional defiant problems, and conduct problems) using PROCESS to evaluate whether the association between exposure to IPV and externalizing behavior varied as a function of children’s engagement with pets and exposure to AC (adjusting for demographic covariates). Approximately 26% of children were exposed to AC. We did not find evidence that positive engagement with pets or AC exposure moderated the association between IPV and externalizing problems. Although prior research suggests that AC exposure and positive engagement with pets may impact the development of internalizing behavior, this study’s findings have important implications as they suggest that these aspects of human-animal interaction may play a less significant role in the development of externalizing behavior, particularly in the context of IPV.

中文翻译：

---

虐待动物和与宠物的积极接触是否会缓和儿童接触亲密伴侣暴力和外化行为问题之间的关联？

先前的研究发现，同时发生的家庭暴力形式会加剧亲密伴侣暴力 (IPV) 暴露对儿童外化行为的影响。尽管虐待动物 (AC) 在生活在发生 IPV 的家庭中的儿童中很普遍，但迄今为止还没有研究测试 AC 是否以及在多大程度上调节了 IPV 接触与外化行为之间的关系。目前的研究评估了 IPV 暴露与外化行为的几个指标之间的关联是否因儿童接触交流电和与宠物的接触而变化。参与者包括从 IPV 服务招募的 204 对母子（7-12 岁的儿童；47% 的女性；77.5% 的少数民族）。我们对每个外化结果（违反规则的行为、攻击行为、对立违抗问题和品行问题）使用 PROCESS 来评估暴露于 IPV 和外化行为之间的关联是否随着儿童与宠物的接触和暴露于 AC（针对人口统计协变量进行调整）而变化。大约 26% 的儿童接触过 AC。我们没有发现证据表明与宠物的积极接触或交流接触会缓和 IPV 与外化问题之间的关联。尽管先前的研究表明接触交流电和与宠物的积极接触可能会影响内化行为的发展，但本研究的发现具有重要意义，因为它们表明人与动物互动的这些方面可能在外化行为的发展中发挥的作用较小，特别是在 IPV 的背景下。