Reciprocal relations between interparental aggression and symptoms of oppositional defiant and conduct disorders: a seven-wave cohort study of within-family effects from preschool to adolescence

BACKGROUND

Interparental aggression is believed to increase the risk of behavioral disorders in offspring, and offspring behavioral problems may forecast interparental aggression. However, these assumptions have yet to be put to a strong test. This study, therefore, examined whether increased interparental aggression predicted increased symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD) from preschool to adolescence and vice versa.

METHODS

A sample (n = 1,077; 49.6% girls) from two birth cohorts of children in Trondheim, Norway, was assessed biennially from age 4 to 16. Children's symptoms of ODD and CD were assessed using semi-structured clinical interviews of parents (from age 4) and children (from age 8). One of the parents reported on their own and their partner's verbal and physical aggression. A random intercept cross-lagged model was estimated to test the within-family relations between interparental aggression, CD, and ODD symptoms.

RESULTS

Across development, increased interparental aggression predicted increased CD symptoms 2 years later, whereas an increased number of ODD symptoms forecasted increased interparental aggression.

CONCLUSIONS

The argumentative/defiant, aggressive, and vindictive behaviors seen in ODD are often directed toward parents and may take a toll on their relationship and possibly foster interparental aggression, whereas aggression between parents may promote symptoms of CD in their offspring, which commonly extend beyond the home. Incorporating effective and non-aggressive means to solve interparental conflict into parental management programs may reduce the development of symptoms of CDs in children.

Predicting Patterns of Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration From Late Adolescence to Young Adulthood

Saint-Eloi Cadely et al. found longitudinal patterns for the perpetration of both psychological and physical intimate partner violence (IPV), including actively and minimally aggressive patterns. The current study builds on these findings by examining four theory-derived variables (interparental aggression, social-information processing [SIP] biases, relationship insecurities [preoccupied and fearful], and discontinuity in relationship partner over time) as predictors of membership within these patterns, using multinomial logistic regression. The analysis sample consisted of 484 participants who were romantically involved at least once during the eight waves of data collection from the ages of 18 to 25. In predicting psychological IPV, more SIP biases, higher levels of a preoccupied insecurity, and less discontinuity in relationship partners over time differentiated the actively aggressive patterns from the minimally aggressive pattern. In addition, two actively aggressive patterns of psychological IPV differed in terms of SIP biases and discontinuity in romantic partners. Specifically, more SIP biases and less discontinuity in romantic partnerships distinguished the extensively aggressive pattern from the pattern that mainly consisted of minor types of aggression. In predicting physical IPV, the aggressive pattern differed from the nonaggressive pattern in terms of more interparental aggression, more SIP biases, and more relationship insecurities. The findings that developmental patterns of IPV can be predicted by social and psychological factors may aid both developmental theory and practice.

Interparental Aggression and Adolescent Adjustment: The Role of Emotional Insecurity and Adrenocortical Activity

Adolescents exposed to interparental aggression are at increased risk for developing adjustment problems. The present study explored intervening variables in these pathways in a community sample that included 266 adolescents between 12 and 16 years old (M = 13.82; 52.5% boys, 47.5% girls). A moderated mediation model examined the moderating role of adrenocortical reactivity on the meditational capacity of their emotional insecurity in this context. Information from multiple reporters and adolescents' adrenocortical response to conflict were obtained during laboratory sessions attended by mothers, fathers and their adolescent child. A direct relationship was found between marital aggression and adolescents' internalizing behavior problems. Adolescents' emotional insecurity mediated the relationship between marital aggression and adolescents' depression and anxiety. Adrenocortical reactivity moderated the pathway between emotional insecurity and adolescent adjustment. The implications for further understanding the psychological and physiological effects of adolescents' exposure to interparental aggression and violence are discussed.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MALE-PERPETRATED INTERPARENTAL AGGRESSION, PATERNAL CHARACTERISTICS, AND CHILD PSYCHOSOCIAL FUNCTIONING

It is well established that children in homes where interparental violence is present are at increased risk for psychosocial (i.e., internalizing, externalizing, and attention) difficulties. However, previous studies have provided a limited view on the variety of factors that commonly co-occur in these environments (e.g., other characteristics of the parents and family) and how they may collectively impact children. Knowing this information could have implications for parental interventions aimed at preventing the continuation or initiation of psychosocial problems in children. Thus, the present study simultaneously examined the association between father-perpetrated interparental aggression, father characteristics, and child psychosocial functioning in a sample of 145 men arrested for domestic violence. Results showed that of all the variables examined, paternal antisocial personality traits and interpersonal hostility were uniquely associated with overall child psychosocial impairment, externalizing problems, and attention problems. Implications for intervention programs are discussed.

Interparental aggression and infant patterns of adrenocortical and behavioral stress responses

Drawing on emotional security theory, this study examined linkages between interparental aggression, infant self-regulatory behaviors, and patterns of physiological and behavioral stress responses in a diverse sample of 735 infants residing in predominately low-income, non-metropolitan communities. Latent profile analysis revealed four classes of adrenocortical and behavioral stress-response patterns at 7 months of age, using assessments of behavioral and cortisol reactivity to an emotion eliciting challenge, as well as global ratings of the child's negative affect and basal cortisol levels. The addition of covariates within the latent profile model suggested that children with more violence in the home and children who used less caregiver-oriented regulation strategies were more likely to exhibit a pattern of high cortisol reactivity with moderate signs of distress rather than the average stress response, suggesting possible patterns of adaptation in violent households.