Intimate partner violence (IPV) continues to be a global problem. The increasing international research, focussing on children who witness IPV between their parents, indicates that these circumstances might influence children in different ways. Despite these efforts, little evidence stems from Germany. Using data from a German school student survey from 2017 and 2019 (N = 21,382), this paper aims to examine the consequences of witnessing IPV. The present paper takes a closer look at children’s violent behaviour, attitudes and quality of life while controlling for other potential influences (e.g. physical and psychological child abuse). Results indicate that IPV has a significant negative effect on children’s quality of life, in particular on children’s sense of security at home and children’s life satisfaction. No other effects were significant. In discussing these complex dynamics, the results of the present study highlight the importance of considering children who witness IPV as direct victims. A home with personal threats cannot provide emotional and physical security. Coping with this absence of a secure base at home may lead to the neglect of important developmental tasks during that time, which can have possible far-reaching implications on different areas of children’s lives (e.g. social competence). Further research examining the severity and duration of witnessing IPV within the context of a longitudinal design is recommended.

亲密伴侣暴力 (IPV) 仍然是一个全球性问题。越来越多的国际研究关注在父母之间目睹 IPV 的儿童，表明这些情况可能以不同的方式影响儿童。尽管做出了这些努力，但很少有证据来自德国。使用 2017 年和 2019 年德国学校学生调查的数据（N= 21,382)，本文旨在检验见证 IPV 的后果。本论文仔细研究了儿童的暴力行为、态度和生活质量，同时控制了其他潜在影响（例如身体和心理虐待儿童）。结果表明 IPV 对儿童的生活质量有显着的负面影响，特别是对儿童的家庭安全感和儿童的生活满意度。没有其他影响是显着的。在讨论这些复杂的动态时，本研究的结果强调了将目睹 IPV 的儿童视为直接受害者的重要性。有人身威胁的家庭无法提供情感和身体安全。应对这种在家中缺乏安全基地的情况可能会导致在那段时间忽视重要的发展任务，这可能对儿童生活的不同领域（例如社交能力）产生深远影响。建议进一步研究在纵向设计的背景下检查见证 IPV 的严重性和持续时间。