Harsh parenting and children's peer relationships: Testing the indirect effect of child overt aggression as moderated by child impulsivity

Abstract

Although harsh parenting has been found to be a risk factor for poor peer relationships, less is known about the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this relation. Mainly guided by the person-environment interaction model, we tested a moderated mediation model to examine the mediating role of child overt aggression between harsh parenting and peer acceptance and whether this indirect association was moderated by child impulsivity. Eight hundred and twenty-four Chinese sixth to eighth graders with their parents and classmates were recruited as participants who completed questionnaires on harsh parenting, child impulsivity, child overt aggression and peer acceptance. Results indicated that the negative association between harsh parenting and adolescents' peer acceptance was mediated by child overt aggression. Moreover, the indirect effect of harsh parenting on peer acceptance was much stronger for adolescents with higher impulsivity. These findings suggest that reducing harsh parenting may be a way to reduce child aggression, especially for children with high impulsivity.