Profiles of Adolescents who Abuse their Parents: A Gender-based Analysis

Abstract

Adolescent-to-parent violence (APV) is still the most understudied type of domestic violence, although reports filed by victimized parents and youths serving judicial measures for this reason are increasing. The aim of this study is to assess the differential profile of boys and girls who have and have not reported APV in a community sample, following studies showing differences between both genders in initiating and maintaining offending behavior. To this end, each gender was assessed separately in relation to both variables already investigated by research on APV and variables that are relevant for other forms of violence. The sample was composed by 341 high-school students of both genders, aged between 14 to 20 years. They answered a questionnaire including scales on exposure to violence, parent-child relationships, selfconcept, psychopathic traits, narcissism, and sexism. They were also asked about drug use, academic performance, family structure, and mental health diagnosis. Data analyses showed that variables that differentiate between youths who reported APV and those who did not were different for boys and girls. Results are discussed suggesting that incorporating a perspective based on gender, that considers differential experiences and psychosocial factors that lead boys and girls to APV, should contribute to designing more conclusive research and more effective interventions. Perfiles de los adolescentes que maltratan a sus padres: un análisis con perspectiva de género R E S U M E NLa violencia de los adolescentes hacia sus padres (VAP) sigue siendo el tipo de violencia doméstica menos estudiado, aunque aumentan las denuncias presentadas por padres y jóvenes que cumplen medidas judiciales por este motivo. El objetivo de este estudio es analizar el perfil diferencial de chicos y chicas que o no han reconocido haber ejercido VAP en una muestra comunitaria, en la línea de los estudios que muestran diferencias entre ambos géneros en el inicio y mantenimiento de la conducta delictiva. Con este propósito se ha analizado por separado a cada género en relación tanto con variables que ya habían sido estudiadas en la investigación sobre VAP como con variables relevantes para otras formas de violencia. La muestra consta de 341 estudiantes de bachillerato de ambos sexos, en edades comprendidas entre los 14 y los 20 años. Respondieron a un cuestionario que incluía escalas sobre exposición a la violencia, relaciones paternofiliales, autoconcepto, rasgos psicopáticos, narcisismo y sexismo. También se les preguntó sobre el consumo de drogas, el rendimiento académico, la estructura familiar y el diagnóstico de salud mental. El análisis de los datos muestra que las variables que diferencian a los jóvenes que reconocían haber ejercido VAP de los que no lo hicieron son diferentes para los chicos y para las chicas. Los resultados se discuten sugiriendo que la incorporación de una perspectiva de género, que considere las experiencias diferenciales y los factores psicosociales que llevan a chicos y chicas a la VAP, podría co...

Instruments of Child-to-Parent Violence: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…According to George and Mallery [56], thresholds are established for Cronbach's alpha: values below 0.50 are considered unacceptable, values between 0.50 and 0.60 are considered poor, and values between 0.60 and 0.70 are questionable, and therefore, values above 0.70 are considered acceptable, values above 0.80 are considered good, and values above 0.90 are considered excellent. In our analysis, no studies reported unacceptable values for internal consistency, although four studies presented estimates that were considered questionable [29,38,51,53].…”

“…The highest internal reliability estimate was reported by Calvete et al [15], with an alpha of 0.93. However, the two measures yielded alphas below the minimum acceptable threshold of 0.70 (Calvete et al [29], α = 0.610 and α = 0.680; Martín, and Cortina [38] α = 0.690) An additional three measures were excluded to provide inadequate cases-per-item ratios, violating the minimum sample size requirements relative to the scale length with regard to the studies by Ghanizadeh and Jafari [32] A total of 13 eligible studies reported Cronbach's alpha values for father-specific scales, but 16 Cronbach's alpha measures were found, and 4 measures were excluded because they did not meet the criteria of an alpha of > 0.70 or a sample size of a 10:1 cases-per-item ratio. Finally, analyses were performed using 12 Cronbach's alpha measures.…”

“…This mean value fell below the 0.06 threshold recommended for an adequate fit; however, there was substantial heterogeneity according to the Q-statistic (Q = 5.337; p < 0.001). A risk of bias assessment through a visualization of a funnel plot coupled with Egger's regression (intercept = −3.274, p < 0.001) suggested the presence of asymmetry, which is indicative of [15,30,31,33,38,39,42,43,45,46,48,50,52].…”

“…The complete results of the RMSEA meta-analysis are presented in Table 3, Figures 7 and 8. [15,30,31,33,38,39,42,43,45,46,48,50,52].…”

Normative Beliefs about Adolescent-to-Parent Violence: The Spanish Adaptations of the Beliefs about Child-to-Parent Abuse Questionnaire and the Abusive Behavior by Children-Indices

“…Perpetrators' gender has been addressed in APV research to analyze differences in the amount and type of violence exerted by boys and girls [14]. Some studies have also explored the differential characteristics of boys and girls who are violent with their parents, both in judicial [15] and in community samples [16][17][18]. However, it has not yet been studied whether the gender of the perpetrator affects APV's social perception.…”