Transgenerational Transmission of Violence among Parents of Preschool Children in Croatia

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a transgenerational transmission of violence within the family on a sample of parents of preschool children in Croatia, and to identify the factors that increase the likelihood of child abuse. The Child Abuse Questionnaire was self-administered to the sample of 118 parents of preschool children (91 mothers and 27 fathers) during February 2013. There were 7.7% of mothers and 3.8% of fathers who answered that they slapped their child, while 15.4% of the fathers answered that they even hit their child with a fist. We found the subjects who were psychologically and/or physically abused in childhood by their parents to have a higher probability of following the exact model of violence on their children. So, children suffer physical violence in larger families from parents who, in turn, suffered physical violence in childhood from their fathers, controlled for all other factors in the model. Children suffer psychological violence from parents who experienced psychological violence from their own parents during childhood, controlled for all other factors in the model. We also found the higher number of family members in a household to be a risk factor for abuse. The study has confirmed that additional interventions are necessary to break the model of transmitting violence from generation to generation.

Intergenerational Cycles of Maltreatment: A Scoping Review of Psychosocial Risk and Protective Factors

“…Studies included in this review varied greatly in terms of their methodological quality. Some studies obtained very low ratings using AXIS (i.e., Adshead & Bluglass, 2005; Faller, 1989; Korbin, 1986; Rikić et al, 2017; Zuravin & Fontanella, 1999) while others obtained high ratings (i.e., Clément & Bouchard, 2003; Clément et al, 2012; Putnam-Hornstein, Cederbaum, King, Eastman, & Trickett, 2015). The main limitations from the included studies in terms of design, sample, and measures are described here.…”

“…Some studies obtained very low ratings using AXIS (i.e. Adshead, & Bluglass, 2005;Faller, 1989;Korbin, 1986;Rikić et al, 2017;Zuravin & Fontanella, 1999) while others obtained high ratings (i.e. Clément, & Bouchard, 2003;Clément et al, 2012;Putnam-Hornstein et al, 2015).…”

Perception of men perpetrators of violence about paternity

“…Evidence of that appears in a Brazilian study that points out that men perceive themselves reproducing in their marital status the same violent attitudes enacted by their parents (3) . Another study conducted in Croatia, on the other hand, shows a female perception that they experience with their partners the same situations of violence suffered by their mothers (4) .…”

Intergenerational Transmission of Relational Styles: Current Considerations

“…The literature suggested the possibility of the intergenerational transmission of violence (Black et al, 2010 ; Lünnemann et al, 2019 ). In fact, children who have been exposed to, or witnessed, parental violence seem to be at higher risk of exhibiting violent behaviors toward both their partner and descendants in the future (Rikić et al, 2017 ). In a 20-year prospective study, Ehrensaft et al ( 2003 ) showed that witnessing domestic violence between caregivers (e.g., parents and guardians) may contribute to adopting similar (dysfunctional) ways of managing conflicts with loved ones in adulthood.…”

“…In addition, it may also be possible that caregivers themselves had been traumatized by the dysfunctional relational styles of their own parents and that this traumatic experience remains unelaborated (Cusinato, 2013 ; Rikić et al, 2017 ). Similarly, the unresolved traumatic experiences of parents may be projected to and then internalized by their children who may be at risk to manifest them in their own future relationships (Fonagy, 1999 ; Roitman, 2017 ; Stob et al, 2020 ).…”