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Adolescent-to-Parent Violence: Translating Research into Effective Practice

“…Similarly, an analysis of a clinical sample found no sex differences in therapist-reported physical aggression when considering the entire sample (11.4% boys, 14.6% girls, non-significant), but there were more boys than girls in the group of physically aggressive youth (Nock and Kazdin 2002). Generally speaking, survey-based studies tend to find equivalent rates of perpetration across sexes (Agnew and Hugeley, 1989;Browne and Hamilton 1998;Ibabe and Bentler 2016;McCloskey and Lichter 2003;Nock and Kazdin 2002;Straus et al 1980), while criminal justice data show higher rates of perpetration among adolescent boys (63-83%, Condry and Miles 2014;Pagani et al 2004;Routt and Anderson 2011;Walsh and Krienert 2009). Thus, the reporter (i.e., adolescent versus parent) and the data source (i.e., survey versus court system) may be important considerations when interpreting sex differences.…”

“…This viewpoint centralizes systemic issues as the driving factor of violence in the family and, thus, considers the function of adolescent-to-parent violence as responsive to strain, stress, conflict, or distorted hierarchy in the family (Brezina 1999;Harbin and Madden 1979;Kratcoski 1985). Arguments supporting this perspective primarily focus on nationally representative, community-based, parent and child self-report survey data and draw on findings of increased rates of verbal versus physical aggressive acts and similar instigation rates across sex (Agnew and Hugeley 1989;Browne and Hamilton 1998;Ibabe and Bentler 2016;McCloskey and Lichter 2003;Nock and Kazdin 2002;Pagani et al 2004Pagani et al , 2009Straus et al 1980). Proponents of this view caution against conceptualizations derived by extrapolating from existing theories of family violence and argue that the unique set of power dynamics calls for explanatory theories specifically geared toward the developmental circumstances of adolescence and parent-child dynamics (Paterson et al 2002;Peek et al 1985;Routt and Anderson 2011).…”

“…Examples of these samples include: clinic-referred youth (12%; Nock and Kazdin 2002), youth from homes with domestic violence (12.6%; McCloskey and Lichter 2003), justice center referred youth (19%; Kratcoski 1985), undergraduate college students (14.5%; Browne and Hamilton 1998), and families recruited for a study on family conflict (22%; Margolin and Baucom 2014). Prevalence rates also depend on the period of time of reported behaviors (9.4% in the last 3 years vs. 5% in the last 1 year; Agnew and Huguley 1989), the reporter (7-8% youth report vs. 11-12% parentreport; Calvete et al 2015a), type of aggression (7-12% physical vs. 91-99% psychological; Calvete et al 2015a; 22% physical, 59% property damage, and 75% verbal; Margolin and Baucom 2014), and severity (2-5% severe vs. 5-13% overall; Browne and Hamilton 1998;Cornell and Gelles 1982;Ibabe and Bentler 2016).…”

“…They range from one-item interview questions (e.g., "Have you ever hit your parent? "; Paulson et al 1990;Peek et al 1985), to multi-item questionnaires (e.g., 20-item Likert scaled survey assessing the various ways that children and their parents resolve conflict; Browne and Hamilton 1998). Behaviors included under an umbrella term of adolescent-to-parent violence also vary, as some researchers include only physically abusive acts (McCloskey and Lichter 2003;Nock and Kazdin 2002), others consider both physical and psychological aggression (Calvete et al Kennair and Mellor (2007) 2015b), and still others include physical violence, verbal aggression, and property damage (Margolin and Baucom 2014).…”

“…A multitude of studies document a positive and strong relationship between childhood victimization or witnessing family domestic violence and adolescent aggression toward self and others (Brezina 1999;Browne and Hamilton 1998;Calvete et al 2014;Duke et al 2010;Ibabe et al 2013;Maxwell and Maxwell 2003;Pagani et al 2009;Ulman and Straus 2003). Scholars have proposed multiple pathways to explain this relationship.…”