This summary focuses on evidence of the indirect impact on children from living with the effect of adult to adult coercive control. Overall there is very little research into coercive control without violence, and even less specific research into how children experience coercive controlling behaviours only, when living with domestic violence perpetrated by one caregiver to another. However, we have identified some key publications and sources of knowledge that seek to identify and explain the impact of coercive control on young people, where these effects are described specifically.

Written by a therapist who specializes in abusive men, this guide reveals how abusers interact with and manipulate children—and how mothers can help their children recover from the trauma of witnessing abuse.

Can my partner abuse me and still be a good parent? Should I stay with my partner for my children's sake? How should I talk to my children about the abuse and help them heal? Am I a bad mother?

Mothers in physically or emotionally abusive relationships ask themselves these questions every day. Whether it’s physical or “just” emotional abuse, whether it’s aimed at them or you, whether they see or hear it, your kids need you.

Parent-child coercive cycles have been associated with both rigidity and inconsistency in parenting behavior. To explain these mixed findings, we examined real-time variability in maternal responses to children's off-task behavior to determine whether this common trigger of the coercive cycle (responding to child misbehavior) is associated with rigidity or inconsistency in parenting. We also examined the effects of risk factors for coercion (maternal hostility, maternal depressive symptoms, child externalizing problems, and dyadic negativity) on patterns of parenting.

By definition, sexual coercion is “the act of using pressure, alcohol or drugs, or force to have sexual contact with someone against his or her will.” Alarmingly, a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that one in ten teens said they had coerced another person into some form of sexual activity Additionally, among teens who have had sex before age 15, over 40% of girls reported being forced to have sex and over 5% of boys reported being forced to have sex.