The Role of Sex and Family Status in the Relationship between Exposure to Violence and Child-to-Parent Violence

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship of exposure to violence and justification of violence with child-to-parent violence (CPV) towards father and mother. The sample comprised 748 high school students (413 male and 335 female), between 13 and 20 years old. The Child-to-Parent Aggression Questionnaire (CPAQ) was employed to assess CPV. Exposure to violence in high school, at home, on the street and on television was assessed using the Violence Exposure Questionnaire (VEQ), whereas exposure to violence in video games was assessed through a questionnaire prepared by the authors. Justification of violence was analyzed using the Justification of Violence subscale of the Irrational Beliefs Scale for Adolescents (ECIA). Regarding violence towards mother, the results show that, in the case of female participants, there was a significant relationship with exposure to violence on the street and at home, and an inverse relationship with video games, as well as with violence justification, whereas in the case of male participants, there was a significant relationship with the same variables, except for violence in video games. Conversely, with regard to violence towards father, there was a significant relationship with violence at home and violence justification in the case of females, as well as with violence at home and on the street and violence justification in the case of male participants. With regard to the role of the type of family, in the case of non-divorced families, there was a significant relationship with exposure to violence on the street and at home, and an inverse relationship with video games, as well as with violence justification, whereas in the case of divorced families, the only significant variable was violence justification. Finally, with regard to violence towards father, there was a significant relationship with violence at high school, on the street and at home, along with violence justification in the case of non-divorced families, as well as violence on the street and violence justification in the case of divorced families. The present study shows the role of participant sex and family status in the relationship of exposure to violence and violence justification with CPV. These findings indicate the importance of taking into account those variables in preventing violence towards parents.