Potential Predictors of Children’s Positive Talk: The Effects of Intimate Partner Violence, Maternal Positive Talk, and Maternal Mental Health

Children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) experience heightened risk for negative outcomes, and research needs to observationally analyze children’s socialization components after IPV to improve positive outcomes. One element is positive talk, defined as vocalizations contributing to relationships and exchanges. Using observations of mother-child dyads playing, the current study aimed to examine effects of IPV, maternal mental health, and mothers’ positive talk on children’s positive talk. Contrary to hypotheses, children exposed to IPV did not engage in less positive talk than non-exposed children, and poorer maternal mental health was not negatively associated with children’s positive talk. Controlling for child age, mothers’ positive talk related to children’s positive talk, but did not significantly moderate IPV and children’s positive talk. Future research should examine children’s positive talk with other positive outcomes, and promoting positive talk between mother-child dyads may stimulate facilitative communication, despite IPV and mental health symptoms.