Linking Extreme Marital Discord, Child Rearing, and Child Behavior Problems: Evidence from Battered Women

Abstract

Relations between marital discord, parental behavior, and child behavior were investigated in a sample of 37 battered women and 37 comparison mothers and their children, aged 2-8 years. It was hypothesized that violent fathers would be more irritable but less involved, battered women more stressed and inconsistent in discipline, and both parents would reportedly use fewer positive and more negative child-rearing responses than comparison families. Based on maternal self-reports and mother-child observations, the only robust self-report difference between the groups of mothers were the level of stress and reports of inconsistency in parenting; in contrast, all of the expected differences were found between the mothers' reports of the 2 groups of fathers. Group effects on child behavior problems were also found. Children from violent families were reported to have more internalizing behavior problems, more difficult temperaments, and to be more aggressive than the comparison children. In the violent families, maternal stress and paternal irritability were the 2 significant predictors of child behavior problems, whereas in the comparison families only maternal stress was a reliable predictor.

Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence: Association Among Battered Mothers’ Parenting Competences and Children’s Behavior

“…In contexts of IPV against mothers, their children see, hear, and are involved in these episodes of violence [3]. Children may not always observe the violence directly (since, in many instances, the abuse is manifested as psychological and controlling behavior by the perpetrator), but they are still aware of the abuse that is taking place [2,4].…”

Harsh Parenting As a Potential Mediator of the Association Between Intimate Partner Violence and Child Disruptive Behavior in Families With Young Children

“…Children exposed to IPV are more likely to experience harsh parenting, such as corporal punishment and verbal aggression (Holden & Ritchie, 1991; Levendosky, Lynch, & Graham-Bermann, 2000; Simmons et al, 2010), as well as more severe forms of harsh parenting and maltreatment that lead to involvement with child protective services (CPS; Appel & Holden, 1998; Colletti et al, 2008; Hartley, 2002; Nelson & Gold, 2012; Streisand, Braniecki, Tercyak, & Kazak, 2001). Both forms of violence increase children’s risk for clinically significant disruptive behavior (Evans, Davies, & DiLillo, 2008; Ferguson, 2013; Wolfe, Crooks, Lee, McIntyre-Smith, & Jaffe, 2003).…”

“…One explanation for the substantial overlap between IPV and harsh parenting is a spillover mechanism, whereby conflictual behavior between parents spills over into their behaviors toward their children, with an increase in parenting strain and harsh parenting practices (Graham-Bermann & Levendosky, 1998; Holden & Ritchie, 1991; Levendosky, Lynch, & Graham-Bermann, 2000; Simmons et al, 2010). Examples of spillover include a mother generalizing the negative affect experienced in her conflictual relationship with her partner to her relationship with her child, responding to her child in similarly harsh ways, a mother becoming too emotionally drained by her conflictual relationship with her partner and having too few personal resources to respond to her child in sensitive ways, or a mother developing psychological health problems that then compromise parenting (Graham-Bermann & Levendosky, 1998).…”

“…A number of studies of school-age children provide evidence of spill-over. Several studies have shown heightened risk for harsh or abusive parenting by both male and female perpetrators of IPV (Edelson, 1999; Hartley, 2002; Herron & Holtzworth-Munroe, 2002; Simmons et al, 2010); less optimal parenting in maternal victims of IPV, including more physical/verbal aggression and conflict with their children (Holden & Ritchie, 1991; Margolin, Gordis, Medina, & Oliver, 2003); and various indicators of less optimal parenting, including inconsistent parenting, less maternal warmth/support, and ineffective parenting practices in maternal victims (e.g., permissiveness, control tactics; Holden & Ritchie, 1991; Levendosky & Graham-Bermann, 2000; McCloskey, Figueredo, & Koss, 1995; Rossman & Rea, 2005). …”

Intimate Partner Violence, Spiritual Well-Being, and Parenting Stress in African-American Women

“…Several studies have demonstrated associations between maternal IPV and family-level variables, such as parenting and increased internalizing and externalizing symptoms in children of IPV survivors (Levendosky & GrahamBermann, 2001;Owen, Thompson, & Kaslow, 2006). Specifically, parenting difficulties (i.e., lower levels of parental warmth, control, parenting effectiveness, and child centeredness; Holden & Ritchie, 1991) and increased levels of parenting stress (Levendosky & Graham-Bermann, 1998;Owen et al, 2006) have been reported among women with IPV histories.…”