Associations between parental control and children's overt and relational aggression

Abstract

The present study examined specialized associations between parental control and child aggression in a sample of 600 8- to 10-years old children. Parental control dimensions and aggression subtypes were assessed using multiple informants (i.e. children, mothers, fathers, peers, and teachers). In line with expectations, parental physical punishment was positively associated with overt aggression, whereas parental psychological control was positively associated with relational aggression in both girls and boys. In addition, this study demonstrated that if both parents employed similar parenting strategies, it appeared to have a cumulative effect on child aggressive behaviour. Associations involving overt aggression were more pronounced for boys than girls, whereas associations involving relational aggression were not moderated by gender. Overall, the present study contributes to an emerging research field by supporting the hypothesis of specialized associations between parental control and child aggression.

Children’s Intent Attributions and Feelings of Distress: Associations with Maternal and Paternal Parenting Practices

“…The extent that fathers uniquely engaged in psychological control, relative to mothers, was also predictive of girls' relational aggression. Research with a Belgian middle-childhood sample has also shown, for both mothers and fathers, that psychological control is predictive of relational aggression and physical punishment is predictive of physical aggression (Kuppens et al 2008).…”

“…The studies that do exist suggest that both negative (e.g., corporal punishment, psychological control) and positive (e.g., warm and responsive) forms of parenting are concurrently associated with more or less relational aggression in preschoolers (Brown et al 2007;Casas et al 2006;Hart et al 1998;Nelson et al 2006), children in middle childhood (Kuppens et al 2008;Nelson and Crick 2002), and adolescents (Loukas et al 2005). These studies predominantly emphasize a social-learning perspective, in which the nature of the parent-child relationship serves as the prototype of basic relationship functioning.…”

Parental psychological control dimensions: Connections with Russian preschoolers’ physical and relational aggression

“…A number of studies confirm that parental psychological control is related to children's relational aggression, even in non-Western cultures (e.g., Casas et al, 2006;Kuppens, Grietens, Onghena, & Michiels, 2009;Loukas, Paulos, & Robinson, 2005;Nelson & Crick, 2002;Nelson, Hart, Yang, Olsen, & Jin, 2006). However, both physical and relational aggression are usually associated with both spanking and psychological control, so the theoretical specificity (suggested above) is lacking (cf., Kuppens et al, 2009).…”

“…However, both physical and relational aggression are usually associated with both spanking and psychological control, so the theoretical specificity (suggested above) is lacking (cf., Kuppens et al, 2009). The gist is that aversive parenting models aggressive behavior more generally.…”

“…However, other theoretical perspectives have been proposed to explain the association between parental psychological control and children's relational aggression (Kuppens et al, 2009;Soenens, Vansteenkiste, Goossens, Duriez, & Niemiec, 2008). In particular, a parent's use of coercive or psychological control may weaken the attachment relationship between parent and child, thereby denying the child of a sense of acceptance in this formative relationship.…”