Parental Psychological Violence and Adolescent Behavioral Adjustment

Abstract

The role of coping strategies (approach and avoidance) as a mediating factor between parental psychological violence and adolescent behavior problems, both internalized and externalized, as well as the protective role of social support were examined separately for boys and girls. A group of 278 adolescents (mean age: 14.2) were recruited in three high schools located in low, moderate, and high socioeconomic areas. Participants were in the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades, and each completed a self-administered questionnaire. The use of avoidant coping strategies partially mediated the link between parental psychological violence and behavior problems among girls. The use of approach coping strategies partially mediated the link between parental psychological violence and behavior problems among boys. In all cases, coping enhanced this link. No protective role of social support was found. On the contrary, this variable was found to increase the relationship between parental psychological violence and externalized behavior problems among boys. These findings suggest that interventions aimed at strengthening coping skills and social support in adolescents may not be effective in alleviating various behavioral symptoms associated with parental psychological violence. They highlight the importance of prevention of psychologically violent parental practices, instead of only reacting to the problem after it has occurred.

Parenting Styles and Internalizing Symptoms in Adolescence: A Systematic Literature Review

“…After removing duplicates, a first screening based on title and abstracts resulted in 167 articles. Finally, after a full-text read-through, 59 studies [31,36,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98] were selected for inclusion (see Table 5).…”

Mediators and Effect Modifiers of the Causal Pathway Between Child Exposure to Domestic Violence and Internalizing Behaviors Among Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Studies exploring the causal pathway between child exposure to DV and internalizing symptoms have identified factors that are modifiable through intervention (amenable to change), such as self-esteem, and those which are nonmodifiable, or fixed, such as age, sex, maternal marital status, education, and socioeconomic status. (e.g., Gagne & Melancon, 2013 ; Spilsbury et al, 2007 ). This review aimed to extend the evidence base described above by exploring (1) mediators—factors that explain the causal pathway through which DV is associated with internalizing symptoms and (2) effect modifiers—factors that alter the strength of the association between DV and internalizing symptoms, among children and adolescents aged 0–18 years within predominantly community samples.…”

The Role of Socio-Economic Status in Adoption of Coping Strategies Among Adolescents Against Domestic Violence

“…As far as the adoption of different type of coping strategies is concerned, use of avoidant coping strategies partially mediated the link between parental psychological violence and behavior problems among girls and similarly use of approach coping strategies partially mediated the link between parental psychological violence and behavior problems among boys (Gagné & Melançon, 2013). The reactions of children who witness violence by one parent against another may include emotional, social, cognitive, physical, and behavioral maladjustment problems (Jaffe, Wolfe, & Wilson, 1990).…”