Building Resilience across the Lifespan to Reduce Risk for Intimate Partner Violence In Adulthood: A Systematic Review of Protective and Promotive Factors Against Child Abuse & Neglect

Background: Child abuse and neglect (CAN), including physical, sexual, and emotional harm as well as neglect, compromises a child’s safety and well-being. In the United States, about one in seven children experience CAN, responsible for 1,820 fatalities in 2021. CAN often co-occurs with children’s exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) and increases the child’s likelihood of IPV perpetration or victimization as they age into adulthood (i.e., physical violence, sexual violence stalking, and psychological aggression by current or former partners). Contributing to the PROTECT-IPV Project, this systematic review used the developmental risk and resilience and social ecological theoretical frameworks to examine protective factors against CAN and exposure to IPV among youth aged 0–18 and explored how social identities, such as sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, and gender identity, influence positive youth development, focusing on minoritized populations.

Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, a search of ten databases from 2003-2025 yielded 10,831 studies. Inclusion criteria were peer-reviewed empirical research, samples with ≥75% children/adolescents aged 0–19, outcomes related to CAN or IPV exposure, and reporting at least one protective factor (quantitative) or theme (qualitative). After screening, the resulting studies meeting inclusion criteria (N = 49) were divided between child protective services samples and non-clinical samples due to the unique nature of child protective service studies (e.g., population characteristics, outcomes). The current study reports on the non-clinical or “general” sample studies, with a total of N = 20 included in the final sample. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool assessed methodological quality.

Results: Protective factors were categorized as individual, relational, and environmental. Individual-level factors, including higher caregiver education, stable employment, economic resources, and parental emotional/developmental strengths, were associated with lower abuse risk. Relational factors included social support and positive father involvement, while environmental factors included access to community services and strong neighborhood connections. Regarding social identities, one study examined race/ethnicity, three examined gender, eight included identity variables as covariates without discussion, and eight did not report on identity. MMAT results indicate study methodologies were high quality with 70% scoring 4 or 5 (range 1-5).

Conclusions & Implications: Targeted interventions should prioritize caregiver resilience and cultivate prosocial relational bonds during the first five years of life. School-age and adolescent interventions should leverage community-based strategies, strengthening neighborhood networks, informal social control, and youth development in schools and community organizations. Public health campaigns can use community engagement to prevent CAN. Practitioners should recognize that social identities and cultural contexts may influence protective processes, though future research must examine these factors explicitly to help draw more robust conclusions. Policy should support family economic stability, strengthen community social capital, and invest in culturally responsive services and structural supports. Gaps in the extant literature include limited examination of identity-related differences and relatively little research addressing protective processes during middle childhood.