Relationship between Punitive Discipline and Child-to-Parent Violence: The Moderating Role of the Context and Implementation of Parenting Practices

Lagged and simultaneous effects of exposure to violence at home on child-to-parent violence: gender differences

Introduction

Numerous studies have found that exposure to violence at home is a risk factor for child-to-parent violence. However, most of the available studies do not delimit a time frame for exposure to violence. This aspect is fundamental to differentiating lagged effects (compensation) from simultaneous effects (reciprocal). The purpose of this study is to clarify the relationship between lagged (before the age of 10) and simultaneous (last year) exposure to violence at home (direct victimization: parent-to-child violence and vicarious victimization: exposure to violence between parents) and child-to-parent violence, the possible differential reactive or instrumental motivation of these relationships and whether they differ based on the gender of children and parents.

Method

The sample comprised 1,734 Spanish adolescents who lived with both parents (57.3% girls), aged between 13 and 17 years. The instruments used were the Child-to-Parent Violence Questionnaire and the Violence Exposure Scale.

Results

Positive and significant relationships were found between child-to-parent violence and exposure to violence at home both during childhood and during the last year; however, the relationships were stronger in the latter. The most important predictors were direct parental victimization during the last year. Boys exerted more reactive violence toward the father concerning exposure to violence by the father toward the mother during the last year. In the case of girls, violence toward both father and mother is more reactive to most victimization experiences.

Conclusions

The findings highlight the need to intervene in family contexts of violence to prevent child-to-parent violence.

Child-to-Parent Violence – Der Blinde Fleck in der Forschung zur familiären Gewalt? Ein Systematic Review / Child-to-Parent Violence –The Blind Spot in Research on Family Violence? A Systematic Review

Child-to-Parent Violence -The Blind Spot in Research on Family Violence? A Systematic Review Child-to-parent violence (CPV) is a phenomenon that has received little attention in the German scientific community. With this paper, the authors present the international state of research in the context of a systematic review. By means of a search a dataset of 317 scientific publications for the period 2012-2022 was identified at August 2022. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 14 studies were finally defined and analyzed in detail. Based on the analysis, the following variables are highlighted as outcomes: Forms of CPV, prevalence, age and gender of individuals performing CPV, risk and protective factors, the direction of CPV within family constellations as well as external conditioning factors of CPV.The results show that there are some concrete findings in research regarding these variables, particularly in the area of risk and protective factors. An initial systematization of violent behaviour in the context of CPV can also be derived fromthe current state of research. At the same time, however, there are still clear gaps in research, e. g. in terms of prevalence, which is mainly due to very different definitions of "violence". This applies both with regard to the international state of research, but especially with regard to the situation in German-speaking countries.

Instruments of Child-to-Parent Violence: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

This systematic review and reliability generalization meta-analysis synthesized psychometric literature on instrumentation assessing child-to-parent violence published through September 2023 across four databases. In the screening, we identified studies reporting Cronbach's alpha internal consistency estimates for the child-to-parent violence scales. The eligible reliability coefficients ranged from 0.610 to 0.930, mostly exceeding the minimum threshold of 0.700. Random-effects models calculated pooled Cronbach's alphas separately for global, father-specific, and mother-specific subscales. The results demonstrated cumulative values of 0.83 (global: standard error = 0.0129), 0.800 (fathers: standard error = 0.0203), and 0.81 (mothers: standard error = 0.0179), denoting largely adequate reliability. However, significant between-study heterogeneity was observed. While the mean alpha levels seem acceptable for most tools, substantial variability coupled with the possibility of some studies violating reliability assumptions indicates that a conservative interpretation is warranted. Ongoing scale refinement and additional psychometric evaluations will strengthen the rigor methodology in this developing research domain. However, these results should be interpreted with caution, as there is a high level of heterogeneity, and it is possible that some studies have not verified the assumptions underlying Cronbach's alpha.

Exposure to Violence during Childhood and Child-to-Parent Violence: The Mediating Role of Moral Disengagement

This study examines the influence of exposure to family violence during childhood on child-to-parent violence (CPV) through moral disengagement. The sample included 1868 Spanish adolescents aged between 13 and 18 years (57.9% female, M_age = 14.94, SD = 1.37). Participants completed the Child-to-Parent Violence Questionnaire, the Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement Scale, and the Exposure to Violence Scale during childhood. Results showed that exposure to family violence during childhood (vicarious and direct violence) contribute independently and positively to CPV. Moreover, the relationship between vicarious and direct exposure to family violence and CPV is mediated by moral disengagement. The structural model was replicated for both CPV towards the father and CPV towards the mother. The results highlight the importance of early exposure to family violence and moral disengagement in violent behavior towards parents. It is necessary to stage an early intervention with children who have been exposed to family violence in order to prevent an intergenerational transmission of violent behaviors.

Risk Factors in Specialists and Generalists of Child-to-Parent Violence: Gender Differences and Predictors of Reactive and Proactive Reasons

Recent research on child-to-parent violence (CPV) is advancing in the analysis of the specialist profile (aggressors who show only CPV) and the generalist profile (aggressors who show peer violence in addition to CPV). However, although differences have been found between girls and boys in the risk factors for CPV, there are no studies that analyze these differences according to the type of aggressor. Likewise, the importance of identifying the factors that differentially predict reactive and proactive CPV has been noted but has not been examined in different types of aggressors. The aims of this study were to examine gender differences in CPV patterns, emotional intelligence, parental victimization, and parental permissiveness and to analyze whether these variables predict reactive and proactive CPV, both according to aggressor type. A total of 1559 Spanish CPV aggressors (54.6% females) aged between 12 and 18 years from educational centers participated in the study (22.4% exercised only CPV (specialists) and 77.6% exercised peer violence in addition to CPV (generalists)). In general, no differences were found between girls and boys in the specialist profile, but differences were found in the generalist profile. Specifically, generalist girls exercised more psychological and control/domain violence toward mothers, while boys exercised more physical violence toward fathers and had more parental permissiveness. In specialists, parental victimization predicted reactive CPV, while parental permissiveness predicted proactive CPV. In contrast, in generalists, both parental victimization and parental permissiveness predicted both reactive and proactive CPV. Low emotional regulation was a significant predictor in both cases. This study identifies differences among girls and boys in CPV risk factors and among variables that predict reactive and proactive CPV and that these results differ between specialist and generalist aggressors. Implications for research and professional practice are discussed, highlighting the need to design and implement prevention and intervention programs specialized in the type of aggressor, paying special attention to gender differences and to the factors that motivate one or the other type of CPV.

A Multilevel Meta-Analysis of Dynamic Risk Factors for Emerging Adults who Abuse their Parents

Purpose

Even though five to 11% of child-to-parent abuse (CPA) perpetrators are emerging adults (age 18-23 years), relevant risk factors underlying CPA in this group are understudied.

Method

A multilevel meta-analysis was performed on nine studies (450 effect sizes, N = 1,043), comprising eight static (e.g., age and gender of perpetrator) and dynamic (e.g., substance abuse, financial problems) risk factors.

Results

Emerging adults who fell victim of domestic violence, or had antisocial cognitions, authority problems, or empathy problems displayed CPA more often. Moderator analyses revealed that the relation between gender of perpetrator and CPA was moderated by gender of victim (p = .033) and CPA type (p = .021). Gender of victim (p < .001) also moderated the relationship between single-parent household and CPA. Finally, the relation between witness to DV and CPA was moderated by age (p = .007).

Conclusions

This was the first multilevel meta-analysis focusing exclusively on CPA displayed by emerging adults. The results can be used as a basis for further research into relevant risk factors for CPA in this group and hopefully contribute to the development of health care interventions to reduce chances of CPA occurring.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10896-022-00469-4.

Differential Profile of Specialist Aggressor versus Generalist Aggressor in Child-to-Parent Violence

Research on violence in general highlights the need to differentiate between those aggressors who only show specialized violence in the family context and those who also show generalized violence in other contexts outside the family. However, in the phenomenon of child-to-parent violence (CPV), the distinctive characteristics of this profile have not been yet analyzed. The aim of this study was to identify the typology of specialist aggressor versus the typology of generalist aggressor and examine whether they differ in their characteristics. A total of 1559 CPV aggressors participated, with ages between 12 and 18 years, of whom 22.4% exerted violence only towards parents (specialist aggressors) and 77.6% also exerted violence towards peers (generalist aggressors). The results show that specialized violence and generalized violence seem to follow different patterns according to age. The generalists were characterized by a more negative profile than the specialists. Specifically, the former showed more CPV and for more reasons, both reactive and proactive. Regarding individual characteristics, they obtained lower levels of emotional intelligence and resilience. Concerning family characteristics, they presented higher levels of insecure parental attachment and parental violence (direct and observed). The predictive variables retained in the regression model represented approximately 16.4% of the variation in the type of aggressor. This study supports the classification based on the specificity versus generality of violence, as it was found that specialist and generalist CPV aggressors differ significantly in their characteristics. It is considered that the findings could help to identify the differential mechanisms through which both types of aggressors have developed CPV. Further analysis of this profile can be of great use for the design of intervention and prevention programs adapted to the needs of each typology.