By-gender risk paths of parental psychological control effects on emerging adult overt and relational aggression

Abstract

We modeled by-gender risk paths of maternal, paternal, and parental psychological control effects on emerging adult overt and peer relational aggression using structural equation models. The effect of adolescent conduct problems on emerging adults’ (aged 18–24) aggression was examined through its effect on parents’ psychological control. Additionally, a social–cognitive mediation model of aggression was tested linking conduct problems and parents’ psychological control with hostility and low guilt and concern for harming others. Results highlighted the salience of the social–cognitive model for female emerging adults’ aggression risk. For example, maternal/paternal psychological control and hostility mediated effects of conduct problems on female aggression types. Additionally, combined parental psychological control and hostility mediated effects of conduct problems on female aggression types.

Relationship between Parenting Style, Alexithymia and Aggression in Emerging Adults

“…Although the vast majority of research in the area is predominantly focused on maternal parenting style (Cabrera, Tamis-LeMonda, Bradley, Hofferth, & Lamb, 2000;Simons & Conger, 2007) current results are in line with several studies which found that paternal but not maternal authoritarian parenting practices including psychological control are linked to increased relational aggression in children (Nelson & Crick, 2002;Nelson, Hart, Yang, Olsen, & Jin, 2006) and to relational and overt aggression in emerging adults (Little & Seay, 2014). In addition, a recent longitudinal study which assessed paternal and maternal psychological control simultaneously by employing a regression analysis found that only fathers' psychological control significantly contributed to externalising and internalising problems in adolescent children (Lansford, Laird, Pettit, Bates, & Dodge, 2014) further emphasising the paternal role in children's behavioural and emotional development.…”

The Role of Parental Psychological Control and Warmth in College Students’ Relational Aggression and Friendship Quality

“…adults may use relational aggression to gain control or in selfdefense against rejection and conditional acceptance, which may evoke feelings of distrust, resentment, or alienation and cultivate poorer friendships (Grotpeter & Crick, 1996). Similarly, social information processing theory suggests that emerging adults who experience parental psychological control may be more likely to perceive hostility in peer interactions and thus respond with relational aggression (Little & Seay, 2014). Notably, our finding that college students' relational aggression mediates the relation between perceived parental psychological control and students' friendship quality should be interpreted with caution.…”

“…Relational aggression refers to manipulative social behaviors such as gossiping, threatening friendships, and social exclusion that may increase peer rejection and damage friendship quality (Crick, 1996). As previous research has found links between parental psychological control and relational aggression during emerging adulthood (Clark et al, 2015;Little & Seay, 2014), psychological control may indirectly affect emerging adults' friendship quality through the transmission of manipulative interaction styles like relational aggression. Thus, the present study investigates the role of parental psychological control in college students' friendship quality and use of relational aggression with peers.…”

Developmental Precursors of Relational Aggression From Late Childhood Through Adolescence

“…Indirectly, the child may witness his or her parents, siblings, and peers acting aggressively toward other people, which then serves as modeling behavior for the child's own social relationships (Stauffacher & DeHart, 2006). Previous cross-sectional and longitudinal studies (Little & Seay, 2014;Vaillancourt, Miller, Fagbemi, Côt e, & Tremblay, 2007) have shown that higher levels of parental warmth and monitoring, and lower levels of parental hostility, are associated with less physical and relational aggression (Kawabata et al, 2011). Warm parents who are high in monitoring provide children with a safe environment that allows them to learn positive social relationship skills, whereas hostile parents provide children with a harmful environment that leads them to learn destructive ways of interacting with others.…”