School adaptation and behavioural and emotional problems in minors exposed to gender violence

Ana Rosser Limiñana
Raquel Suriá Martínez

Abstract

In recent years, as gender violence has become more visible in Spain, so sensitivity to the needs of children exposed to this violence has increased. However, interventions usually focus on psychosocial rehabilitation of women rather than their children. The aim of this work is to analyse the behavioural and emotional problems of a sample of children living in shelters with their mothers after having suffered gender violence. The Child Behaviour Check List (CBCL) was used to analyse the behavioural and emotional problems of 46 children aged between six and sixteen (M = 11.15; SD = 2.6) living in shelters. An ad hoc Likert questionnaire was also designed to gather information about these children’s school adaptation. Behavioural and emotional problems were detected in most of the minors, as well as difficulties in academic performance and school adaptation. A relationship between behavioural and emotional problems and school adjustment was also observed. These results reflect the need for greater attention to the difficulties of children exposed to gender violence and show the importance of the educational sphere for early detection and support of these difficulties.

This is the English version of an article originally printed in Spanish in issue 273 of the revista española de pedagogía. For this reason, the abbreviation EV has been added to the page numbers. Please, cite this article as follows: Rosser-Limiñana, A., & Suriá-Martínez, R. (2019). Adaptación escolar y problemas comportamentales y emocionales en menores expuestos a violencia de género | School adaptation and behavioural and emotional problems in minors exposed to gender violence. Revista Española de Pedagogía, 77 (273), 313-332. doi: 10.22550/REP77-2-2019-04

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Author Biography

Ana Rosser Limiñana has a PhD in Psychology from the Universidad de Alicante. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and Social Psychology at this university and directs the Psychosocial Intervention with Families and Young People Research Group (IPSIFAM), the Chair in Social Inclusion at this university and coordinates the qualification in Specialist in Children and Young People at Social Risk. She is a member of the Valencian Autonomous Region’s Observatory on Children and Adolescents. Her research interests include study of children and adolescents who have been exposed to gender violence and she has a number of academic publications in this field.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9388-6696

Raquel Suriá Martínez has a PhD in Psychology from the Universidad de Alicante. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and Social Psychology at this university and a Lecturer at the Elche centre of the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia. Her research interests focus on the integration of disabled students and psychosocial intervention with children and adolescents. She has various publications in prestigious journals.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9968-9730

Citación recomendada | Recommended citation

Limiñana, A. R., & Martínez, R. S. (2019) . School adaptation and behavioural and emotional problems in minors exposed to gender violence. Revista Española de Pedagogía, 77(273). https://www.revistadepedagogia.org/rep/vol77/iss273/11