Edleson Revisited: Reviewing Children's Witnessing of Domestic Violence 15 Years Later

A systematic review of literature was conducted using the criteria identified in Edleson's (Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 14(8), 839-870, 1999) article titled Children's witnessing of domestic violence. Based on the recommendations in Edleson's (Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 14(8), 839-870, 1999) article, four themes were examined in the current research 1) the impact of exposure to domestic violence, 2) the cumulative effects of exposure to multiple forms of violence, 3) potential protective factors that highlight children's resilience, and 4) the father-child relationship. Using similar methods identified in Edleson's (Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 14(8), 839-870, 1999) article, the literature was searched and 46 articles reviewed during the Fall of 2014. The results highlight areas of great success in expanding the understanding of children's exposure to domestic violence to increase identification and prevalence. However, the results found that after nearly 15 years, there has been little advancement in the research literature on emphasizing children's voices in their experiences of domestic violence.