Adolescent-to-Mother Psychological Aggression: The Role of Father Violence and Maternal Parenting Style

Lagged Effect of Parental Warmth on Child-to-Parent Violence through Moral Disengagement Strategies

Empirical evidence supports the simultaneous relationship between parental warmth and child-to-parent violence (CPV). However, no studies analyze the lagged effects of perceived parental warmth and the potential impact of cognitive mechanisms legitimizing immoral behavior on this relationship. This study aimed to examine the mediating role of moral disengagement strategies (reconstruction of immoral behavior, obscuring personal responsibility, misrepresenting injurious consequences, and blaming the victim) in the relationship between the perceived paternal and maternal warmth dimensions (warmth-communication and criticism-rejection) during childhood and CPV towards the father and mother. The sample included 2122 Spanish adolescents (57.7% female) aged 13 to 18 years. The Child-to-Parent Violence Questionnaire (CPV-Q), the Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement Scale (MMDS-S), and the Warmth Scale were used as assessment instruments. The results indicate that paternal and maternal warmth-communication is negatively associated with CPV, whereas paternal and maternal criticism-rejection and moral disengagement strategies are positively related to CPV. The mediation models show that the reconstruction of immoral behavior plays a crucial mediation role in the relationship between paternal and maternal warmth-communication and CPV as well as in the relationship between maternal criticism-rejection and CPV. The results emphasize the necessity of early prevention programs for parents promoting positive parenting practices, including parental warmth, to foster children's adaptive socio-cognitive development. In addition, addressing moral disengagement in adolescents could help prevent or stop a pattern of violent behavior toward parents.

Associations among Parental Phubbing, Self-esteem, and Adolescents' Proactive and Reactive Aggression: A Three-Year Longitudinal Study in China

Parental phubbing, as a new risk factor for adolescents' healthy development, has been noticed by scholars. However, few studies have clarified the associations between parental phubbing and adolescents' proactive and reactive aggression and the potential mediating mechanisms. To address the gaps, the current study explored the longitudinal associations among parental phubbing, self-esteem, and adolescents' proactive and reactive aggression by using the parallel process latent growth curve model and the cross-lagged panel model. The current study involved 2407 Chinese adolescents (girls were 1202, Mage = 12.75, SD = 0.58 at baseline, range = 11-16). Results indicated that parental phubbing significantly positively predicted adolescents' reactive aggression but not proactive aggression. Self-esteem significantly predicted the adolescents' reactive and proactive aggression. Self-esteem significantly mediated the associations between parental phubbing and adolescents' proactive and reactive aggression, respectively. These findings suggest that intervening with parental phubbing is a promising way to reduce adolescents' reactive aggression, and promoting adolescents' self-esteem is an effective approach to prevent their proactive and reactive aggression.

Investigating the relationship between domestic violence with substance abuse and suicide resilience in mothers with disabled children

Introduction

Mothers with disabled children are among the most critical groups exposed to domestic violence. Although domestic violence strongly affects these mothers' physical and mental health, it subsequently affects their drug addiction and resilience to suicide. Based on this, it is crucial to investigate domestic violence, drug addiction, and resilience against suicide in mothers with disabled children. This study investigated the relationship between domestic violence, substance dependence, and resilience against suicide in mothers with disabled children in Iranian society.

Methods

From January to April 2023, a cross-sectional study was conducted in central and western Iran with the participation of 267 mothers with disabled children. The mothers of disabled children were selected through convenience and snowball sampling. Then they completed questionnaires included domestic violence, substance dependence and resilience against suicide. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 22 with descriptive statistics, such as prevalence, percentage, mean, and standard deviation, and expository measurements, including ANOVA, independent t, and regression tests.

Results

The study revealed that there was a strong direct correlation between domestic violence and substance abuse (r = 0.89, p < 0.001), as well as a strong indirect correlation between domestic violence and suicide resilience (r = -0.90, p < 0.001). Additionally, substance abuse and suicide resilience were negatively correlated (r = -0.93, p < 0.001). Other variables, such as the severity of children's disability, education, financial status, and the fathers' involvement, were predictors of domestic violence, accounting for 73.28% of the variance.

Conclusion

Mothers with disabled children reported moderate levels of domestic violence, which strongly impacts their physical and mental well-being, leading to drug dependency and suicide. So, it is essential to implement comprehensive planning and provide extensive support to reduce domestic violence against them. By doing so, we can enhance their physical and mental health and ultimately improve their overall quality of life.

Relationship between child-to-parent violence and cumulative childhood adversity: the mediating role of parental attachment, resilience, and emotional intelligence

Introduction

Recent research on aggressor profiles in child-to-parent violence (CPV) seems to provide promising results. However, this phenomenon has been poorly addressed in the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) framework. This study aimed to explore the frequency of different types of ACEs and cumulative ACEs in adolescents who exert CPV, to analyze the differences between aggressors with different levels of cumulative ACEs in parental attachment, resilience, and emotional intelligence, and to evaluate the associations between these variables, as well as a possible mediational model.

Methods

A total of 3,142 Spanish adolescents (50.7% girls) aged between 12 and 18 years from educational centers participated.

Results

Adolescents who exerted CPV presented higher rates of ACEs both independently and cumulatively than those without CPV. Aggressors with cumulative ACEs (88%) in general presented more insecure parental attachment, lower resilience, and lower emotional intelligence than those without cumulative ACEs, and, in turn, aggressors with high levels of cumulative ACEs than those with low levels of cumulative ACEs. Significant associations were identified between CPV, ACEs, insecure parental attachment, resilience, and emotional intelligence. The mediation model suggested that ACEs are related to CPV through preoccupied and traumatized parental attachment and also through low levels of emotional intelligence.

Discussion

The findings provide a better understanding of CPV from the perspective of ACEs, especially of those cases that involve an accumulation of adverse experiences during childhood, and suggest greater professional attention to these cases with the design of specialized CPV intervention programs.

"My [Search Strategies] Keep Missing You": A Scoping Review to Map Child-to-Parent Violence in Childhood Aggression Literature

Child-to-parent violence is often referred to as one of the most 'under-researched' forms of family violence. However, it is closely associated with one of the most widely researched areas of research globally: childhood aggression. How child-instigated aggression can harm parents is widely referred to, but different framings, definitions, and conceptualisations are used which creates problems when attempting to identify the broader literature which may be relevant to child-to-parent violence researchers.

METHODS

Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews, 55 papers were reviewed from EBSCO, PubMed, SCOPUS, and Web of Science to explore how location, field of the researcher, and terminology can impact how researchers conceptualise and frame this form of harm.

RESULTS

Three themes were identified (1) child-to-parent violence is a behavioural indicator of childhood distress or developmental needs, (2) children are 'perpetrators' of deviant behaviour, and (3) the parents are 'victims' of child-to-parent violence.

CONCLUSIONS

Children and parents are both harmed by child-to-parent violence. It is important that future researchers and practitioners recognise the bi-directionality of the parent-child relationship, and not be complicit in hiding the harms caused by child-to-parent violence by subsuming it under the broader childhood aggression literature.

Parenting and parenting resources among Chinese parents with children under three years of age: rural and urban differences

BACKGROUND

Parenting is essential for children's development and preventing child abuse and neglect. Providing parenting services within the primary health care settings demonstrated effectiveness in improving parenting quality. However, little is known about the status of parenting and parenting resources in rural areas and whether they differ between rural and urban areas in Mainland China.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to examine the rural-urban differences in parenting and availability of, utilization of, and need for parenting resources among Chinese parents with children under three years of age.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

A total of 425 parents of children under three years of age participated in an online survey between March and May 2020.

METHODS

The Parenting and Family Adjustment Scale and Child Adjustment and Parenting Efficacy Scale were used to assess parenting, family adjustment, and parenting efficacy. The availability of, utilization of, and need for parenting resources were measured using self-developed questions based on literature. Chi-square tests, t tests, and Wilcoxon rank-sum test were used to examine the differences in responses between parents in rural and urban areas.

RESULTS

Compared with their urban counterparts, rural parents reported a higher level of negative parenting and more limited parenting resources. Both rural and urban parents reported low availability and utilization of parenting resources as well as a great need for parenting support services.

CONCLUSIONS

Rural parents faced more parenting challenges and limited parenting resources compared with urban parents. Both rural and urban parents with children under three years of age reported great needs for parenting resources. These findings highlight the potential of delivering accessible, sustainable, and cost-effective parenting programs via the primary health care system for public welfare in both urban and rural areas, with more attention paid to rural parents to help them improve their parenting.

The effect of life events, resilience, self-esteem, and coping styles on aggressive behavior among left-behind adolescents: Structural equation modeling

INTRODUCTION

Without parental support, left-behind adolescents are more likely than their peers to experience negative emotions and demonstrate aggressive behavior in the same frustrating situation. However, research on this subject has been sparse. To fill this gap and identify potential targets for intervention, this study sought to examine the relationships among factors influencing left-behind adolescents' aggressive behavior.

METHODS

A total of 751 left-behind adolescents were enrolled in a cross-sectional survey, with data collected using the Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Checklist, Resilience Scale for Chinese Adolescents, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Coping Style Questionnaire, and Buss-Warren Aggression Questionnaire. The structural equation model was used for data analysis.

RESULTS

The results showed that left-behind adolescents reported higher levels of aggression. Further, the factors found to have a direct or indirect effect on aggressive behavior included life events, resilience, self-esteem, positive coping, negative coping, and household income. The results of confirmatory factor analysis indicated goodness of fit. In the face of negative life events, left-behind adolescents with high resilience, self-esteem, and positive coping were less likely to exhibit aggressive behavior (P < 0.05).

DISCUSSION

Left-behind adolescents can reduce their aggressive behavior by assuaging the adverse effects of life events via increased resilience and self-esteem as well as the adoption of positive coping strategies.

Responding to child and adolescent-to-parent violence and abuse from a distance: Remote delivery of interventions during Covid-19

Working with families living with child and adolescent-to-parent violence raises a number of challenges which were compounded during the Covid-19 pandemic. In this article, UK umbrella organisation 'Respect' is used as a case study to explore how 10 practitioners navigated social, emotional and safeguarding concerns that occurred when transitioning to remote working. Engagement with children and young people proved difficult, especially for those with special education needs and/or disabilities. However, parental engagement with services increased. Practitioners were quick to adapt to the changing landscape of remote working; continually adapting their practice to otherwise unforeseen safeguarding and/or practical challenges.

Corporal punishment and adolescent aggression: An examination of multiple intervening mechanisms and the moderating effects of parental responsiveness and demandingness

BACKGROUND

Research on generational transmission of violence in general suggests that corporal punishment leads to children's aggressive behavior. However, less clear is the intervening mechanisms that link corporal punishment with adolescent aggression and the moderation on the intervening mechanisms.

OBJECTIVES

This study examined the mediating role of negative emotions, endorsement of violence, and low self-control in the association between parental corporal punishment and adolescent aggression and investigated whether the intervening mechanisms operated differently according to different levels of parental responsiveness and demandingness.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Data from a sample (N = 1,635) of students in central China were used. The students were from 4 schools, aged between 12-18.

METHODS

Conditional process analysis was performed to assess the moderated mediation.

RESULTS

The relations of corporal punishment with adolescent aggression were partially mediated by adolescent's endorsement of violence (b = .027, p < .001), negative emotion (b = .028, p < .001), and low self-control (b = .008, p = .007). In addition, these indirect effects were moderated by parental responsiveness and demandingness.

CONCLUSION

Our study adds further empirical credence in our collective effort to reduce adolescent aggressive behavior by banning corporal punishment as a disciplinary practice. Further, parenting programs by social welfare agencies should consider the important role of demandingness. Interventions could reduce adolescent aggression also by adolescent resilience development, improving one's self-control and management of negative emotion while cultivating moral beliefs disapprove of violence.

Meanings of intrafamily violence experienced in childhood/adolescence present in the discourses of men

OBJECTIVE

to unveil the meanings of intrafamily violence experienced in childhood and/or adolescence by men under legal proceedings due to conjugal violence.

METHOD

a qualitative research, based on Thematic Oral History and supported by Symbolic Interactionism. Participants were men under legal proceedings due to domestic violence who had experienced or witnessed intrafamily violence in childhood and/or adolescence.

RESULTS

the speeches revealed that the intrafamily violence experienced in childhood and/or adolescence was signified as an educational method. The aggressions committed by parents were only perceived as acts of violence in situations considered extreme, such as in cases of using a firearm, handcuffs, and rope.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

considering that the meanings direct human conduct and that they are subject to modification depending on social interactions built throughout life, it is believed that educational strategies that encourage the redefinition of violence can be effective in facing this problem.

Analyzing the Relationship Between Child-to-Parent Violence and Perceived Parental Warmth

The relationship between child-to-parent violence (CPV) and the perceived parental warmth dimension has been well established. However, it is necessary to further investigate the nature of this relationship considering the involvement of other variables. The objective of this study was to analyze the role of cognitive (hostile attribution), emotional (anger), and social variables (deviant peer group and drug use) in the relationship between the perceived parental warmth dimension (warmth-communication and criticism-rejection) and CPV motivated by reactive or instrumental reasons. The community sample consisted of 1,599 Spanish adolescents (54.8% girls) between the ages of 12 and 18 years (M_age = 14.6, SD = 1.6 years) from different secondary schools in Jaén (75.3%) and Oviedo (24.7%) (Spain). Each participant completed the Child-to-Parent Violence Questionnaire (CPV-Q), the Warmth Scale (WS), adolescents’ version, the Social Information Processing (SIP) in Child-to-parent Conflicts Questionnaire and Deviant Peers and Drug Use Questionnaires. The results indicate that perceived parental warmth is negatively correlated with hostile attribution, adolescent anger, relationship with a deviant peer group, while perceived parental criticism is positively linked to these variables. Likewise, hostile attribution and adolescent anger are positively linked to reactive CPV. Relationship with a deviant peer group is associated with drug use, which also predicts both reactive and instrumental CPV. In sum, a lack of perceived parental warmth has important repercussions in the form of the psychological and social maladjustment of children, which in turn is differentially correlated with reactive or instrumental CPV. Thus, prevention and intervention programs for CPV should consider, on the one hand, working with parents on parental practices that incorporate parental warmth as a fundamental element and, on the other hand, working with children on cognitive, emotional, and social aspects, taking into account the different motivations for this type of violence.