Child-to-parent Violence Research Articles

Child-To-Parent Violence and Parental Psychological Disorders: Serial Multiple Mediation of Social Support, Self-Efficacy and Emotional Dysregulation

ABSTRACT Research about child-to-parent violence (CPV) has increased significantly, although studies from a parental perspective are scarce. Parents describe a lack of social support and psychological distress in the context of CPV. This study explores the mediating roles of social support, self-efficacy and emotional dysregulation in the relationship between CPV and psychological disorders in a sample of 1017 Spanish parents. A serial mediation model was conducted. Social support played a serial mediator role, followed by self-efficacy and emotional dysregulation, in the relationship between CPV and psychological disorders. The results highlight the need to intervene with parents to prevent or mitigate the psychosocial impact of CPV.

Video Games, Violence Justification and Child-to-Parent Violence

During the past decade, video games have become the main industrial entertainment sector, although research on the effects of violence in video games on juvenile aggressiveness has raised concerns that they may pose a significant social risk. The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship of exposure to violent video games, pathological video-gaming, and justification of violence with the perpetration of Child-to-Parent Violence (CPV) against the mother and the father, controlling for the sex, educational level, and violent TV exposure of the participant. The sample consisted of 439 students from Compulsory Secondary Education, (238 boys and 201 girls), aged between 13 and 18. Exposure to video games was assessed through an author-elaborated questionnaire, violence justification, and pathological video-gaming were evaluated with the Exposure to Violence Questionnaire and the Assessment of Pathological Computer-Gaming, respectively, and CPV was assessed through the Child-to-Parent Aggression Questionnaire. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that pathological video-gaming and, specially, justification of violence, were related to the perpetration of CPV against both mothers and fathers. However, a relationship of exposure to violent video games and violence on TV with the perpetration of CPV was not found. These results suggest a potential new target for CPV prevention, as well as for the treatment of juvenile offenders.

Assessment of Adolescents in Child-to-Parent Violence: Invariance, Prevalence, and Reasons.

This study first aimed to analyze the psychometric validity of the Child-to-Parent Violence Questionnaire (CPV-Q) among Ecuadorian adolescents. Second, the measurement invariance across the children's sex was examined. Finally, the prevalence of child-to-parent violence (CPV) was also determined. A total of 2084 adolescents aged 12 to 18 years participated in this study. The participants were residents of two provinces in southern Ecuador. A higher percentage of participants were women. They lived mostly with their father and mother. The married marital status of the parents was the most frequently reported. Most of the fathers and mothers of the participants completed primary education. The sampling design was probabilistic, with proportional allocation by age and quotas according to the number of inhabitants per province. The sample size was determined by using a finite population formula. All the participants were randomly selected. The CPV-Q was used to assess child-to-parent violence. The items were adapted linguistically and tailored to the Ecuadorian context. The questionnaire demonstrated excellent model fit and adequate reliability. Full measurement invariance was held for all scales except for the reasons subscale pertaining to fathers. Statistically significant differences were observed with respect to the sex of the aggressor, with control/domain behaviors toward both parents and psychological violence toward the mother being more frequent among daughters than sons. Similarly, reactive reasons were more frequent among daughters than sons. This study provides significant psychometric evidence on the CPV-Q in Ecuadorian adolescents along with data on the prevalence of violence against parents.

Lagged Effect of Parental Warmth on Child-to-Parent Violence through Moral Disengagement Strategies.

Empirical evidence supports the simultaneous relationship between parental warmth and child-to-parent violence (CPV). However, no studies analyze the lagged effects of perceived parental warmth and the potential impact of cognitive mechanisms legitimizing immoral behavior on this relationship. This study aimed to examine the mediating role of moral disengagement strategies (reconstruction of immoral behavior, obscuring personal responsibility, misrepresenting injurious consequences, and blaming the victim) in the relationship between the perceived paternal and maternal warmth dimensions (warmth-communication and criticism-rejection) during childhood and CPV towards the father and mother. The sample included 2122 Spanish adolescents (57.7% female) aged 13 to 18 years. The Child-to-Parent Violence Questionnaire (CPV-Q), the Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement Scale (MMDS-S), and the Warmth Scale were used as assessment instruments. The results indicate that paternal and maternal warmth-communication is negatively associated with CPV, whereas paternal and maternal criticism-rejection and moral disengagement strategies are positively related to CPV. The mediation models show that the reconstruction of immoral behavior plays a crucial mediation role in the relationship between paternal and maternal warmth-communication and CPV as well as in the relationship between maternal criticism-rejection and CPV. The results emphasize the necessity of early prevention programs for parents promoting positive parenting practices, including parental warmth, to foster children's adaptive socio-cognitive development. In addition, addressing moral disengagement in adolescents could help prevent or stop a pattern of violent behavior toward parents.

An Examination of Differences in Detected Versus Undetected Child-to-Parent Violence in Spanish Justice and Community Youth Samples

The number of crimes related to child-to-parent violence (CPV) has increased in recent years. Most cases are undetected. This is the first study to compare CPV-justice involved youth (CPV-JI/detected CPV) and CPV non-justice involved youth (CPV non-JI/undetected CPV), with the aim of examining differences in risk factors and pattern of violence. The sample included 306 Spanish youth (229 males, 77 females) aged 14 to 19 years: 83 CPV-JI, 105 CPV non-JI, and 115 non-CPV. The results show a worse individual, family, and social profile in CPV-JI youth compared with CPV non-JI youth, and in the latter compared with non-CPV youth. Undetected aggressors were more similar to detected aggressors than to non-aggressors. In addition, CPV-JI youth had higher scores in CPV-Q than CPV non-JI youth. The CPV-Q score that best classified detected versus undetected aggressors is 16 to 17 points, proving to be a useful instrument in classifying different types of CPV aggressors.

Not all child‐to‐parent violence is the same: A person‐based analysis using the function of aggression

ABSTRACTObjectiveTo explore a typology of dyads experiencing child‐to‐parent violence (CPV) using the function of CPV (i.e., its motivation).BackgroundCPV may be motivated by reactive (i.e., retaliatory), proactive (i.e., instrumental), or affective (i.e., primarily emotional) functions, which may co‐occur intraindividually; however, their co‐occurrence pattern is not fully understood.MethodThis study included 252 participants aged 27 to 78 years (M = 45.92, SD = 8.33; 96% female) who were caregivers of a young person aged 5 to 24 years (M = 13.18, SD = 4.86) and completed an online survey measuring the form and function of CPV and a range of child, parent, and dyadic factors. The majority of dyads were mother–child.ResultsLatent profile analysis revealed two distinct types of dyads: High‐proactive dyads reported severe, highly reactive and proactive CPV compared with low‐proactive dyads in which proactive CPV was rare and reactive CPV was uncommon. Rates of affective CPV were similar across types. Analysis of variance demonstrated that high‐ and low‐proactive dyads significantly differed across intervention‐relevant parent, child, and dyadic factors.ConclusionHigh‐proactive dyads exhibited role reversal and spousification (i.e., parental conflict spill‐over) in which caregivers were helpless, frightened, and frightening, and the young person possessed domineering traits. Low‐proactive dyads were characterized by a comparatively in‐control caregiver who exhibited intrusiveness and higher supervision and a young person who was comparatively less domineering.ImplicationsDifferent types of dyads experiencing CPV may have unique intervention needs.

Alcohol use as a predictor of child-to-parent violence in adolescents from southern Mexico.

To analyze the relationship and effect of alcohol use on Child-to-Parent Violence (CPV). Cross-sectional, observational study with a quantitative approach, carried out through online data collection using the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2) and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) in 318 high school adolescents from southern Mexico. Moderate and significant relationships were found between alcohol use and verbal (rs = 0.408, p = 0.001) and economic violence against the mother (rs = 0.445, p = 0.001). A similar situation is presented in physical (rs = 0.473, p = 0.001), verbal (rs = 0.236, p = 0.001) and economic (rs = 0.477, p = 0.001) violence directed to the father. The relation among the variables was supported by Multiple Linear Regression models, with alcohol consumption in adolescents being a predictor of violence against mothers and fathers.

The broken bond: Exploring child-to-parent violence and its spiritual and sociodemographic potential predictors among university students in Tabriz, Iran

ObjectivesThis study investigates the prevalence and risk factors of child-to-parent violence (CPV) among university students in Tabriz. MethodsUsing a cross-sectional design, 500 first-year students from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences were surveyed with questionnaires. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 16. ResultsThe findings revealed a concerning prevalence of controlling and psychological violence towards both mothers (48 %) and fathers (44 %). Boys demonstrated a lower likelihood of violence against their father (aOR=0.44; 95 % CI: 0.30 to 0.64) and mother (aOR=0.41; 95 % CI: 0.28 to 0.60) compared to girls. Students in the paramedical group exhibited a 54 % and 77 % lower probability of violence against their father (aOR=0.46; 95 % CI: 0.17 to 0.65) and mother (aOR=0.33; 95 % CI: 0.25 to 0.84) respectively, compared to those in the medical group. Spiritual well-being did not show a significant association with CPV towards fathers (p = 0.379) and mothers (p = 0.186). DiscussionThese findings underscore the need for multi-pronged interventions. Equipping students with healthy communication skills, expanding mental health services, and implementing preventive programs targeting adolescents could be crucial in addressing CPV. For nursing practice this research provides a basis for developing care strategies that incorporate mental health support and communication skill enhancement.

‘I’m his safe space’: Mothers’ Experiences of Physical Violence From Their Neurodivergent Children—Gender, Conflict and the Ethics of Care

Abstract Drawing on recent criminological scholarship on child to parent violence (CPV), this article applies a feminist ‘ethics of care’ framework to understand how mothers of neurodivergent children understand the violence they experience from them. Examining data from in-depth interviews with 15 mothers who experience CPV, this article explores how mothers construct themselves as a ‘safe space’ through which their child can manage their distress. The tensions and emotional conflicts this produces for mothers, as well as the harms that result, are highlighted. Discussion focusses on the usefulness of understanding family violence from an ‘ethics of care’ framework, and the implications for violence prevention through broader social change.

Psychological Symptoms in Parents Who Experience Child-to-Parent Violence: The Role of Self-Efficacy Beliefs.

Previous research suggests that parents involved in child-to-parent violence (CPV) experience shame, judgment, and a lack of social support, often accompanied by feelings of self-blame and helplessness as well as a deterioration in their perception of self-efficacy and their parenting skills. All of these factors may impact parents' mental health. However, there is a research gap concerning the consequences of CPV among parents. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the relationship between CPV and psychological symptoms (i.e., depression, anxiety, hostility, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, and somatization) in parents based on their perceptions of self-efficacy. The sample was composed of 354 participants: 177 parents (83.1% mothers) and their 177 children (53.4% boys; Mage = 13.27). CPV was reported by both parents and their children. In addition, parents reported their self-efficacy beliefs and psychological symptoms. The results showed that CPV was negatively associated with parents' psychological symptomatology, except for somatization. Moreover, self-efficacy beliefs explain part of the indirect association between CPV behaviors and psychological symptoms in parents. Overall, our findings provide evidence for the potential impact of CPV on mental health in parents and suggest the relevance of reinforcing their self-efficacy beliefs.

Psychometric Adaptation of a Brief Scale of Child-to-Parent Violence and Intrafamily Violence in Peruvian Adolescents.

Family violence is a critical public health problem in Latin America. In Peru, family violence continues to be difficult to detect and prevent, with child-to-parent violence (CPV) arising as a key issue. This study aimed to do a psychometric adaptation of a brief scale of evaluation of CPV and intrafamily violence in a sample of Peruvian adolescents. Our study analyzed internal structure, internal consistency (with depression, family satisfaction, and anxiety), convergent validity, and measurement invariance. The study population included 570 adolescents living with both parents (50.2% women). Adequate goodness-of-fit indices were found for the full version of CPV and intrafamily violence of nine items (CFI = 0.991; RMSEA = 0.053) and the version with only CPV of six items (CFI = 0.995; RMSEA = 0.074). The latent correlations between CPV with depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms were greater than 0.40. Our study found that the full version of CPV and intrafamily violence (nine items) and the CPV-only version (six items) were invariant by sex. Reliability was adequate in all cases (ω > 0.70). The scale presents evidence of validity and reliability in Peruvian adolescents. It is suitable for epidemiological research on family violence.

Are All Child-to-Parent Violence Profiles Associated with Exposure to Family Violence? Findings from a Sample of Spanish Adolescents.

Exposure to family violence (EFV) is proposed as a relevant antecedent of child-to-parent violence (CPV). However, both previous research and practitioner experience suggest that not all cases of CPV involve EFV. This study aimed to identify profiles of adolescents according to their degree of involvement in CPV and their EFV. A sample of 1647 adolescents (mean age = 14.30, SD = 1.21; 50.5% boys) completed measures of CPV, witnessing family violence, victimization by parents, permissive parenting, parental warmth, and several measures of cognitive and emotional characteristics. Latent profile analyses based on measures of CPV and family characteristics supported a four-profile solution. Profile 1 (82.2%) consisted of adolescents with very low scores on both CPV and exposure to family violence. Profile 2 (6.2%) was characterized by medium scores on psychological CPV and high EFV. Profile 3 (9.7%) was characterized by severe psychological CPV and very low EFV. Profile 4 (1.9%) included adolescents with the highest scores on CPV, including physical violence, and high EFV. These profiles were found to differ from each other according to several cognitive and emotional variables of the adolescents. Therefore, not all CPV profiles were associated with a history of EFV. The obtained profiles have implications for interventions.

Relationship between child-to-parent violence and cumulative childhood adversity: the mediating role of parental attachment, resilience, and emotional intelligence.

Recent research on aggressor profiles in child-to-parent violence (CPV) seems to provide promising results. However, this phenomenon has been poorly addressed in the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) framework. This study aimed to explore the frequency of different types of ACEs and cumulative ACEs in adolescents who exert CPV, to analyze the differences between aggressors with different levels of cumulative ACEs in parental attachment, resilience, and emotional intelligence, and to evaluate the associations between these variables, as well as a possible mediational model. A total of 3,142 Spanish adolescents (50.7% girls) aged between 12 and 18 years from educational centers participated. Adolescents who exerted CPV presented higher rates of ACEs both independently and cumulatively than those without CPV. Aggressors with cumulative ACEs (88%) in general presented more insecure parental attachment, lower resilience, and lower emotional intelligence than those without cumulative ACEs, and, in turn, aggressors with high levels of cumulative ACEs than those with low levels of cumulative ACEs. Significant associations were identified between CPV, ACEs, insecure parental attachment, resilience, and emotional intelligence. The mediation model suggested that ACEs are related to CPV through preoccupied and traumatized parental attachment and also through low levels of emotional intelligence. The findings provide a better understanding of CPV from the perspective of ACEs, especially of those cases that involve an accumulation of adverse experiences during childhood, and suggest greater professional attention to these cases with the design of specialized CPV intervention programs.

Child-to-Parent Violence Specialist and Generalist Perpetrators: Risk Profile and Gender Differences.

Like other forms of domestic violence, child-to-parent violence (CPV) is a social and health-related problem. The identification of risk factors has preventive and therapeutic implications. This paper analyzes the risk profiles and gender differences of 206 CPV cases between 12 and 28 years of age (58% males) from clinical and judicial contexts in Spain, assessed using the Child to Parent Violence Risk (CPVR) Assessment tool. Two profiles were compared according to the extent of their violence: those using only CPV (specialist, 64.1%) and those also using other types of violence (generalist, 35.9%), as coded by professionals working with the cases. Generalist perpetrators had a significantly higher prevalence in terms of the bidirectionality of the violence (being victims at home), bullying victimization, empathy problems, anger management issues, attitudes justifying violence, antisocial behavior, failure of previous interventions, violence between parents, cohabitation problems other than CPV, problematic education style, and inversion of the hierarchy. Females were less likely to be generalists, and, in the case of female specialists, violence from parents and issues in the family context may have been among the main explanations for their violence. The results suggest differences between groups, which is consistent with previous research, but also the need for more accurate typological classification methods.

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, Mage = 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.

"I Wasn't Gonna Quit, but by Hook or by Crook I was Gonna Find a Way Through for the Kids": A Narrative Inquiry, of Mothers and Practitioners, Exploring the Help-seeking of Mothers' Experiencing Child to Parent Violence.

Child to parent violence is a significant concern that has been researched over the last sixty years. However, little is known about the help-seeking pathways of parents experiencing child to parent violence (CPV). Barriers and enablers to disclosing CPV have been explored, and responses to address CPV have been nominally researched. The mapping of a disclosure to a choice of where to get help has not occurred. This study seeks to map help-seeking pathways of mothers and considers these pathways in regards to the relations within families and sociomaterial conditions. This narrative inquiry utilizes response-based practice and Barad's concept 'intra-action' to examine interviews with mothers (n = 11) who experience CPV, and practitioners (n = 19) who work with families experiencing CPV. Five help-seeking pathways of mothers are found in this study. Three themes evident across the pathways are explored including: (1) help-seeking within pre-existing relationships; (2) mothers' feelings of fear, shame and judgement entangled with help-seeking; and (3) conditions which enable and hinder help-seeking from family. This study finds sociomaterial conditions such as single motherhood and judgement limit help-seeking possibilities. Further, this study finds help-seeking occurs within pre-existing relationships along with the entanglement of CPV with other issues such as intimate partner violence (IPV) and homelessness. This study demonstrates the benefits of employing a response-based approach alongside 'intra-action' within a researchand practice context.

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.

Child-to-parent Violence Offenders (Specialists vs. Generalists): The Role of Direct Victimization at Home

Background/Objectives: Current research has identified direct victimization at home as one of the main predictors of child-to-parent violence (CPV). However, the mechanisms involved in this relationship have not been studied. Thus, we first analyze the differences between CPV offenders and offenders who have committed other types of offenses, as well as the differences between two types of CPV offenders: specialists (those who have only committed CPV) and generalists (those who have committed CPV in addition to other offenses), in multiple risk factors. Next, we specifically examine direct victimization at home and its relationship with social-cognitive processing in CPV. Method: The sample consisted of 208 Spanish young offenders recruited from the Juvenile Justice Service (163 males) aged 14-20 years. Concretely, 83 were CPV offenders, 126 other offenders and concerning the CPV group, 57 were specialists and 26 generalists. A wide range of individual, family, and social variables were evaluated. Results: Compared to other offenders, CPV offenders show more socio-cognitive difficulties, less parental warmth and more parental criticism/rejection, more direct victimization at home and more vicarious victimization at school and in the street. Specialist and generalist CPV offenders differ significantly in their characteristics, with the generalists showing a more negative profile than the specialists. The most important result is that direct victimization at home is linked to social-cognitive processing, and, while some of the variables (anticipation of positive consequences and justification of violence) are positively related to CPV motivated by instrumental reasons, other variables (anger and aggressive response access) are positively related to CPV motivated by reactive reasons. Conclusions: Dysfunctional social-cognitive processing is implicated in the relationship between direct victimization at home and CPV, varying the components involved depending on the reasons for the violence. It is discussed the implications of the obtained results for research and professional practice.

Child-to-Parent Violence: Examining Cumulative Associations with Corporal Punishment and Physical Abuse

PurposeCorporal punishment (CP) and physical abuse (PA) in childhood are associated with increased risk of child-to-parent violence (CPV). Without context of discipline (i.e., the intention of behavior change, and use of reasonable force), both CP and PA represent the use of physical force against a child. It is still unclear if their associations with CPV are similar when they co-occur, or when they occur in isolation. The current study examined the differential and cumulative association of different types of physical force in childhood with rates of CPV.MethodThe sample consisted of 1,132 participants, between 18 to 87-years-old (M = 50.95, SD = 14.24) and included 59.5% female and 39.2% male participants who completed an online survey measuring CP, PA and CPV. Participants formed three groups: low CP or PA (group low), high CP only (group HCP), or high PA and CP (group PA + CP).ResultsTwo one-way ANOVAs with planned contrasts were conducted separately for CPV against mothers and fathers. The group HCP reported significantly higher CPV against both the mother and the father than group low and there was no significant difference between group HCP and group PA + CP.ConclusionsHigher rates of CP are associated with higher rates of CPV; however, this rate does not increase further when there is concurrent PA. This suggests that there may be a low sensitivity for retaliation from a young person, or coercive training (through high parent–child conflict), in environments where there is physical force from a parent.

‘He’s out of control, I’m out of control, it’s just – I’ve got to do something’: a narrative inquiry of child to parent violence

Families globally experience child to parent violence (CPV). Stories of CPV have been considered at an individual and collective level to ascertain themes in parents’ accounts to identify enabling and restraining factors for CPV. However, understanding the societal narratives, defined as discourses, which have a multi-directional and entangled relationship with individual recounts of CPV have yet to be investigated. This research utilizes Narrative Inquiry with participatory approaches to explicate the societal narratives within mothers’ recounts of CPV. This analysis, guided by the interactional and discursive view of violence, and response-based practice, identifies societal narratives which set the conditions for what is possible and impossible in relation to CPV. The analysis contributes to understanding the attitudes of minimization and concealment of violence within parents’ accounts of CPV. The mothers’ recounts were constrained and made possible by the ‘good’ mother narrative and narratives of adolescence and gender. This research examines the intra-actions mothers’ recounts have with the societal narratives, and the performance of their roles as (en)actors of the subject positions ‘mother’ and ‘child’. Implications for practice and research include: consideration to practitioner’s views of power and subject positions in a parent and child relationship when working with CPV; and practitioners to be critical of essentialism and gender in working with CPV. This study posits a practical demonstration for using the response-based practice approach in research; and a way of viewing stories which can be incorporated in working with families experiencing CPV.