The Interrelationship between Family Violence, Adolescent Violence, and Adolescent Violent Victimization: An Application and Extension of the Cultural Spillover Theory in China

Parental corporal punishment and adolescent drinking: the protective role of personal growth initiative and gender difference

Introduction

Parenting and peer victimization (PV) are crucial for adolescent drinking. To further explore the cause of adolescent drinking, the present study investigated the role of PV and personal growth initiative (PGI) in the relationship between parental corporal punishment (PCP) and adolescent drinking.

Methods

Present study build moderated mediation models to test the hypothesis, and detailed analysis of gender differences was conducted on the models. The data were collected in a cross-sectional questionnaire study with n = 1,007 adolescents (mean age = 13.16 years, 51.84% girls, n = 522).

Results

Model analysis showed that: (1) PV totally mediated the relationship between PCP and adolescent girls' drinking behavior; (2) The positive association between PV and drinking was only significant for girls with low PGI.

Discussion

These findings underscore the importance of the protective effect of a personality trait characterized by spontaneous self-promotion on adolescent girls' drinking.

Violence Perpetration in Early Adolescence: A Study of Four Urban Communities Worldwide

PURPOSE

Violence perpetration is common among adolescents worldwide but existing research largely focuses on boys, older adolescents, and partner violence. Our study sought to identify individual, family, and neighborhood/peer factors associated with violence perpetration in a multinational sample of male and female young adolescents.

METHODS

We used cross-sectional data from 5,762 adolescents in four sites in the Global Early Adolescent Study: Flanders, Belgium; Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Shanghai, China; and Semarang, Indonesia. Adolescents resided in high-poverty urban areas and were aged 10 to 14 years. Logistic regression examined pooled and stratified associations between independent variables with peer violence perpetration in the past six months. Factors included media viewing habits, gender norms, victimization, agency/empowerment, adversity, depression, familial relationships, neighborhood cohesion, and peer behaviors.

RESULTS

Restricted-model analyses found increased odds of violence perpetration associated with high media consumption, pornography viewing, violence or bullying victimization, having drank alcohol, depressive symptoms, adverse childhood experiences, greater behavioral control, greater decision-making, feeling unsafe in the neighborhood/school, peer alcohol/tobacco use, and witnessing peers start a fight. Decreased odds of violence perpetration were associated with more egalitarian views on two gender norms scales, closer parental relationships, neighbors looking out for one another, and greater availability of adult help.

DISCUSSION

Among young adolescents, increased odds of violence perpetration were related to a perceived lack of safety and risky peer behaviors. Parental and neighborhood connections were often associated with decreased perpetration. Further research examining the interplay of such factors among young adolescents is needed to inform effective intervention and policy.

Fathers’ parenting stress, parenting styles and children’s problem behavior: the mediating role of parental burnout

Parental duties can be overwhelming, particularly when parents lack sufficient resources to cope with parenting demands, leading to parental burnout. Research has shown that parental burnout is positively related to neglect and abuse behaviors towards their children; however, few studies have examined parental burnout within the family system, including examining parenting styles as an antecedent, and most research has ignored the potential influence of fathers’ parental burnout. This study aimed to explore the influence of fathers’ parenting stress and parenting styles on internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors in a sample of junior high school students and the mediating effect of parental burnout. Questionnaire data from 236 students (56.4% girls) and their fathers (age: M = 39.24, SD = 5.13) were collected on 3 different time points. Fathers were asked to report their parenting stress and parenting styles at Time 1, and parental burnout at Time 2, and students were asked to report their internalizing and externalizing behaviors at Time 3. The results indicated that: (1) fathers’ parenting stress and negative parenting styles were positively related to parental burnout, and fathers’ positive parenting styles were negatively related to parental burnout; (2) fathers’ parental burnout was positively related to children’s internalizing and externalizing problem behavior; and (3) fathers’ parental burnout could mediate the relationship between parenting stress, negative parenting styles, and internalizing and externalizing problem behavior. These results suggested that fathers’ roles in the parenting process were not negligible, and more attention should be given to prevention and intervention methods for fathers’ parental burnout.

[Association between psychological violence and posttraumatic stress disorder in a cohort of Brazilian adolescents]

The study analyzed the impact of psychological violence on the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This was a cross-sectional study nested in a cohort in which the second follow-up was conducted in 2016. A questionnaire was applied to 2,486 adolescents and approached individual, family, and social aspects and experience with psychological violence. Propensity score was used to create inverse probability weighting (IPW). Thus, a probability was assigned to each adolescent, where 1/IPW represent those in the exposed group and 1/(1-IPW) those in the unexposed group. This procedure made the two groups more homogeneous and mutually comparable. The association between the occurrence of psychological violence and PTSD was estimated by odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) via crude binary logistic regression and adjusted logistic regression (weighted by IPW). According to the results, 30.3% reported having suffered severe violence. Prevalence of PTSD was 4.8% among exposed and 1.5% in unexposed to psychological violence. An association was observed between severe violence and PTSD in the two analyses, but the magnitude in the model structured by the propensity score (OR = 1.97; 95%CI: 1.08-3.56) indicated an adjustment to the measure from the crude analysis (OR = 3.40; 95%CI: 2.03-5.69). The current study contributes to the scarce literature on exposure to psychological violence and its association with the development of PTSD, confirming the negative impact of this form of abuse on the individual´s mental health.

Co-occurrence of Health Risk Behaviors Among Brazilian Adolescent Victims of Family Violence

Although recent studies have related the occurrence of violence in childhood and adolescence with the adoption of health risk behaviors, there are no studies that quantify this co-occurrence among adolescent victims of family violence. Our objective was, therefore, to investigate the co-occurrence of health risk behaviors in these adolescent victims. Data from the National School Health Survey, collected in 2015, were used. Co-occurrence of risk behaviors-involvement in fights, substance use (alcohol, drugs, and tobacco), not wearing seat belts and helmets, inadequate food consumption-was analyzed using Venn diagrams, according to the victim's status and sex. The association between the four risk behaviors and victimization was investigated using multiple logistic regression. All the analyses were performed using Stata®13. We found an excess of risk behaviors among victims of family violence in both sexes. The co-occurrence of the four risk behaviors analyzed was higher among male and female adolescents, who were victims of family violence than in nonvictims. Family violence was associated with the adoption of risk behaviors, regardless of sex. This association was stronger as the number of risk behaviors adopted increased. The chance of engaging in one risk behavior was 1.32 (95% confidence interval (CI) = [0.88, 1.98]) and 1.24 (95% CI = [0.90, 1.72]) higher for boys and girls, respectively, who had suffered family violence. This increased to 7.76 (95% CI = [5.33, 11.29]) and 7.28 (95% CI = [5.20, 10.20]) when considering engagement in four risk behaviors. Identifying the prevalence of co-occurrence of health risk behaviors in vulnerable subgroups (such as victims of domestic violence) could help target broader interventions focusing on multiple risk behaviors.

Pathways From Family Violence to Adolescent Violence: Examining the Mediating Mechanisms

PURPOSE

Past research has documented a significant relationship between family violence and adolescent violence. However, much is unknown about the processes through which this association occurs, especially in the non-Western cultural context. To address this gap, we propose an integrated model encompassing multiple pathways that connect family violence to adolescent violence. Specifically, this study investigates how family violence is related to adolescent violence through violent peer association, normative beliefs about violence, and negative emotions.

METHOD

We tested the model using the two-wave survey data collected from a probability sample of more than 1,100 adolescents residing in one of the largest metropolitan areas in China in 2015 to 2016.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

The results indicated that family violence predicted adolescent violence perpetration. Violent peer association, normative beliefs, and negative emotions, however, mediated much of the relationship between family violence and adolescent violence.

Explaining the accumulation of victimization in vulnerable children: Interpersonal violence among children traumatized by war and disaster in a children's home in Sri Lanka

Research in postconflict settings indicated that children's exposure to war and natural disaster is a significant predictor of experiencing violence within their families. However, it is unclear if this effect is driven by characteristics of traumatized children or their parents. To disentangle these different factors we conducted a survey in a children's home in Sri Lanka. A total of 146 institutionalized children (aged 8 to 17) were interviewed using standardized questionnaires administered by local senior counselors in order to assess children's exposure to mass trauma, family violence, and violence in the institution as well as their mental health. Linear regression analyses revealed that, controlling for potential confounds, previous exposure to civil war was a significant predictor of violence by guardians in the children's home. In addition, previous exposure to family violence was a significant predictor of violence by peers in the institutions. A mediation analysis showed that children's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems partly mediated the relationship between violence prior to the admission to the children's home and violence in the children's home. The findings of our study provide evidence for the assumption that the transmission of mass trauma into interpersonal violence can occur independently from parents through children's psychopathology.

A Longitudinal Study of Authoritative Parenting, Juvenile Delinquency and Crime Victimization among Chinese Adolescents

Empirical research on the relationship between authoritative parenting and crime victimization has been sparse, although this style of parenting has been identified as an effective parenting practice for inhibiting offending behavior among children and adolescents. The current research aims at filling this gap by examining the influences of authoritative parenting on juvenile delinquency and crime victimization, as well as the mechanisms connecting the processes. Using two-wave survey data collected from a probability sample of 1066 Chinese adolescents, the current study employed a structural equation modeling analysis to test the relationships. The results indicated that authoritative parenting negatively predicted juvenile delinquency and crime victimization. Further, adolescent mental health problems and delinquent peer association partially mediated the influence of authoritative parenting on delinquency, while adolescent mental health problems, delinquent peer association, and juvenile delinquency fully mediated the relationship between authoritative parenting and crime victimization. The results also showed that juvenile delinquency positively predicted future crime victimization. Overall, this study demonstrated that authoritative parenting operated as a protective factor against juvenile delinquency and crime victimization.

The Spillover Mechanisms Linking Family Conflicts and Juvenile Delinquency Among Chinese Adolescents

The mechanisms through which conflicting parental relationship and parenting practices influence adolescent antisocial behavior have not been adequately understood. To bring more understanding to the mechanisms, this study investigates how marital discord interrelates with interparental inconsistency in parenting practices, and how these family conditions influence juvenile delinquency through their spillover effects on mental health problems, parental attachment and delinquent peer association among Chinese adolescents. Findings obtained from a structural equation modeling analysis of survey data collected from a probability sample of 2,496 adolescents (mean age = 15.16 years) are generally consistent with the spillover effect hypothesis. The results demonstrate that mental health problems, parental attachment, and delinquent peer association operate as critical mediators linking marital discord and interparental inconsistency to juvenile delinquency.

Prevalence of family violence and mental health and their relation to peer victimization: A representative study of adolescent students in Southwestern Uganda

BACKGROUND

Despite global efforts to end violence against children in all settings, reports reveal that violence against children is still highly prevalent, especially in low-and middle- income countries. Violence in childhood is associated with a host of negative outcomes, and exposure in one setting can easily spill over to other contexts. For instance, exposure to family violence was not only related to mental health problems but also seems to be a risk factor for peer victimization.

OBJECTIVES

The present study aimed to examine the prevalence of maltreatment within the family and adolescents' mental health problems and their relation to peer victimization. We also aimed to gain new insights into the perceptions of adolescents concerning maltreatment within their families.

METHODS

Data were collected from April to November 2017 in a representative sample of 702 students from 12 public secondary schools in Southwestern Uganda who responded to self-administered questionnaires.

RESULTS

Overall, 95% of the students experienced at least one type of family violence in the past month. Students (81.3%) had endorsed some level of acceptance of violent discipline as a valid strategy in response to any misbehavior. Maltreatment within the family was related to peer victimization (β = .47) and this relation was mediated by mental health problems (0.002, 95%-CI: 0.001-0.004).

CONCLUSIONS

The results indicated a high prevalence of maltreatment within Ugandan families that was associated with peer victimization. This underscores the need to implement interventions aiming to reduce maltreatment and violence in order to protect children from potentially negative consequences.