Negative Parenting and Child Aggression

Abstract

This literature review examined how negative parenting practices can affect the children’s behavior, making them aggressive. Childhood aggression is significant for children and their families because aggressive children have a negative affect on others. Parental child rearing attitudes had unique contribution to the prediction of aggression. Different ethnic groups have been studies to prove that every ethnicity has a different idea of what negative parenting is and how it leads to aggression. There were gender differences on mother and father’s parenting affect the children. In addition, information about parental status in the society is considered as a major factors leading children to become less obedient therefore aggressive.

Negative parenting and childhood aggression

This literature review examines how negative parenting practices and child aggression are related. We often think that a child becomes aggressive due to environmental factors when he/she is grows up, but research have shown that aggression starts from negative parenting. The most important negative parental factors that contribute to child aggression are authoritarian, controlling, negative/ harsh, uninvolved, punitive, monitoring, and abusive parenting. Some studies have also demonstrated similar relations across ethnic groups among parenting behavior measures as indicators of the quality of the parent- adolescent relationship and several development outcomes. Prior research has taken an approach on understanding these differences for different genders.

Developmental Factor

The point in the child’s development when harsh parenting occurs is important. There are many perspectives taken on development. Bornstein (1987) argues about the issues related to sensitive periods, a term that refers to a certain experience at a certain time in the life cycle that exerts a dramatic effect on the individual’s future developmental course. Harsh disciplines during this period, might lead to severe aggressive behavior. From another perspective, Erickson (1963) described “stages” of psycho- social development when characteristics such as trust develop. If the child develops trust, he or she will feel safe and secure in the world. However, if the child fails to develop trust and is experiencing negative parenting that might lead to distrust, which will result in fear and a belief that the world is cruel and harsh. Masten and Coatsworth (1998) propose that a child develops social competence by proceeding through a series of age appropriate, developmental tasks. Were this progression to be distorted in some way by overly harsh parenting, inappropriate aggressiveness might develop.

Authoritarian/ Harsh parenting

While the children are going through these developmental stages and experiencing harsh and negative parenting practices, other factors can influence them and make them more violent. A model by Knutson et al. (2004) shows that harsh punitive discipline is the key component of authoritarian parenting behaviors that reinforce child aggression. Authoritarian parents are controlling and ignore the child’s demands; they tend to use power-assertive, prohibitive, and punitive strategies, which emphasize obedience. Authoritarian parents solve disciplinary problems by physical punishment, and verbal reprimands. They are less likely to explain to their children the reasons behind their demands or punishment (Robinson et al., 1995). If a parent is more authoritative, the child becomes less obedient and they tend to do the things they are not allowed to do. When they receive punishment after behaving badly they associate that punishment with negativity and keep that anger inwards. Then they go and try to take anger out on other people and if this continues most of their childhood, they will grow up to be aggressive. They also found that the effect of authoritarian parenting predicts maladaptive emotional coping strategies that are related to childhood aggressive behavior.

Coping Strategies

Research on children’s aggression has examined three categories of factors: (1) children’s internal factors such as temperament, gender, and emotion- regulation abilities; (2) socialization factors such as parenting styles and parent behavior; and (3) contextual factors such as family structure and school climate (Rubin, Burgess, Dwyer, & Hastings, 2003). These three factors explain how the negative parenting predicts young children’s maladaptive emotion coping strategies. The more authoritarian the mothers, the more likely their children were to adopt negative coping strategies. Even though emotional intensity has been linked to children’s anger reactions, whether negative emotionality leads to aggressive behavior may depends on how well the child can control his/ her emotions (Eisenberg et al., 2000). Research suggested that children with high emotional reactivity need to develop better coping strategies to regulate their emotions or emotionally driven behavior. It follows that they would benefit more from parental behavior that facilitate them to widen their coping strategies repertoire or refine their coping skills. Most of the research measured authoritarian parenting by using the authoritarian subscales of the Parental Behaviors Questionnaire (PBQ) developed by Robinson et al. (1995).

The children that receive such parenting often become aggressive which starts to affect their environment and peers and they create stress for others. Children who behave badly at home tend to behave the same way in school. They have problem relating positively to peers and they are more isolated and have emotional problems (Offord, Boyle, & Racine, 1991). Both the child and society are affected by the demonstrated relationship between early childhood aggression and adolescent violent behavior. When children are at school, they get into fights with others even when it is not necessary, use physical techniques to defend themselves and approach all situations negatively. They tend to have a great influence on the people around them. The research has shown that they also use harsh language with the teachers and tend to talk back. These children create a negative environment in the whole classroom, which affects the peers and teachers.

Monitoring

Being Authoritarian goes along with monitoring and controlling the children. Although monitoring has been seen as an important aspect of parenting behavior, the work of Stattin and Kerr (2002) made it clear that it is not so much the tracking and surveillance behavior of parents that is important but rather the child’s free disclosure of information. Research suggested that a good and trustworthy relationship with parents makes children be open to their parents about their lives. Monitoring has a very large effect on adolescents’ development of aggressive behavior because they feel like their parents do not trust them, which makes them not open up to the parents when they need to. So, if the parents are nice to the children and do not use harsh practices on them they will get to know their children more the child will also trust them more and will tell them everything they do in life, either good or bad. On the other hand, if the parents are trying to control what the child do in their daily lives such as what kids of website they are browsing while using internet, monitoring can be good. It minimizes children’s aggressive and delinquent behavior (Reid & Patterson, 1989; Snyder & Patterson, 1987). Research has shown that if the parents monitor whom their kids talk to and what kind of website do they use; they can minimize the risk of child being abusive. This is because the children think that the parents won’t know the kind of language they are using online and what kinds of behaviors they are engaging in. Therefore, they will tend to speak differently with the online friends because they think they could be different in real life but they eventually learn to adapt to these behavior and then become aggressive in real life as well. It is very important to monitor the children the right way; so that they should not feel they are being controlled and parents do not have to worry about them not disclosing.

Uninvolved parenting

Parents who are uninvolved with their child have a high risk of having aggressive children. Uninvolved parents are low in responsiveness and have little communication. While these parents fulfill the child’s basic needs, they are generally detached from their child’s life. Parents might also engage in this style if they are tired, frustrated, or have simply “given up” in trying to maintain parental authority. When the parents seem disinterested in children’s life, children could respond to those indifferences with emotional distress or challenge to evoke parental attentiveness (Ge, Best, Conger, & Simons, 1996). Parental involvement is important to consider as a distinct concept because some degree of shared activity is necessary for relationships to flourish; thus, parental involvement is a cornerstone to connective bonds between parents and children. Parental involvement has been shown to be associated with children’s global maladjustment for preschool and middle school children. Parents should also get involved with their children to find out what kind of friends are they making in school and in the neighborhood because children get influenced by others very easily. Therefore, it is very important to find out who their peers are.

Ethnic Differences

The relationship found between negative parenting and children’s aggressive behavior helps to extend the knowledge of the effects of authoritarian parenting on young children from different ethnic groups. When research looks at the differences in how parent and child react with each other there are many factors considered that leads to aggression in children. Each ethnic group has a unique understanding of what they consider negative in parenting styles, because some of them could be negative in one culture but acceptable in others. It is believed that Chinese authoritarian parenting is related to children’s aggressive behavior and negative coping strategies because Chinese parents are more controlling and authoritarian. This type of parenting is a label for parenting that is low in responsiveness and warmth and high in coercive control. Aggressive behavior is strictly prohibited in Chinese culture and there are many constraints imposed on this prohibition (Kessen, 1975). Therefore, Chinese are also required to learn how to control and suppress their impulsivity, frustration, anger and defiance from early years (Chen, 2000). Aggressive children in China experience a variety of social, school, and psychological difficulties and they are likely to be rejected by peers and regarded as incompetent by teachers, and have learning problems. However, this aggression comes from the parents themselves, Chinese parents are often authoritarian and controlling. It has been found that compared with North Americans, Chinese parents tend to support the employment of high power strategies such as physical punishment in child rearing and appear to be less sensitive and affectionate to their children (Chen et al., 1998). It has also been found that as parental authority is emphasized in Chinese society, authoritarian and punitive parenting may be considered relatively normative among Chinese parents (Chao, 1994). This means that children in China are less likely to respond in aggressive manners, unlike the Western Society. As mentioned above, negative parenting is also associated with the way child copes with it, since Chinese children are always experiencing negative parenting they are less likely to respond in aggressive manners.

More studies are done to show the differences in aggressive behavior in children. A study on four ethnic groups living in the Netherlands: The indigenous Dutch, Turkish, Moroccan, and Surinamese. All these groups show that disclosure and a negative quality of the parent adolescent relationship were significantly related to aggressive behavior. Again, the more adolescent’s disclosure to their parents and the lower the level of negativity in the relationship, the lower the level of aggressive behavior. For both the Dutch and the Surnmaese group, none of the parenting behavior variables was linked with aggressive behavior. In the Turkish group, however, parental restrictive control was significantly and positively associated with aggressive behavior. The same was true for the Moroccan group. In the Moroccan group, perceived parental support was also related to aggressive behavior. Remarkably, the more Moroccan adolescents feel supported by their parents, the more aggressive behavior they report (Wissink, Dekovic, & Meijer, 2006.)

Social Economic Status

In a study on African Americans and European Americans SES status and single parent, family structure has also been linked to physical punishment and child externalizing problems (Achenbach, Howell, Quay, & Conners, 1991; Huston, McLoyd, & Coll, 1994). Low family income and status may affect children’s behavior through culturally shaped parent socialization practices (Dodge, Pettit, & Bates, 1994), parental stress and lack of social support (Hashima & Amato, 1994; Leadbeater & BishopG. Duncan, Brooks- Gunn, and Klebanov (1994) found that low SES is related to childhood aggression because low-income neighbors have higher levels of externalizing problems such as temper tantrums. These parents do not stop their children from behaving badly because they feel that children need to complain and take their frustration out. Low SES parents may have experienced inadequate nurturance as children and, thus, may have reduced resources for dealing effectively with the child’s needs for nurturance (Conger et al., 1994; McLeod & Shanahan, 1993). The parent’s own early experience may also increase the likelihood that harsh, physical discipline will be employed. Low SES suggests parents who lack the person resources to nurture their children effectively. Furthermore, they find themselves in a social environment that lacks the material and social support that can make their parenting more positive.

Social Learning Theory

One factor that has been related to childhood aggression in all the ethnic groups was found to be “Social Learning Theory” (Patterson et al,. 1991) which proposes that aggressive and violent behavior is learned by the child from models of violent behavior in the family and from involvement in the family’s coercive interaction. The experience of harsh, physical discipline terrorizes and humiliates the child and diminishes the child’s sense of self-worth. The child who views the world as non-caring and is angry in response to negative, inadequate nurturance maybe particularly susceptible to adopting aggressive behavior in early childhood as a self-protective measure. As such, children become more embroiled in the coercive family interaction (Patterson, 1982); their style of social interaction becomes more aggressive. They may perceive aggression as protection in a hostile, non-caring family environment. There is a anther approach taken on this theory by Chen, he proposes that Social Learning Theory is when a children model the coercive and controlling disciplinary style of their parents and adopt a similar style in their social interactions with peers (Nelson et al., 2006). Other than the negative behavior, the negative emotion associated with authoritarian parenting may also have adverse effects. This model leads to the developmental approach on aggression, which states that negative parent child interaction is associated with insecure attachment between mother and child. These children develop the idea that the world is uncaring; they are not worth cared for, this lays the groundwork to aggressive interaction with peers, and adults alike.

Gender Differences

A very interesting aspect of this research is understanding gender differences in aggression. It is possible that aggression in boys and girls may develop in different manners and be receptive to different types of external influences. Social learning theory suggest that children may learn to engage in negative behavior by watching parents arguing or being aggressive with each other (Grych & Fincham, 1990). Boys and girls may be more likely to model the same-gender parent (Snyder, 1998). Gender differences have found that girls are more affected by mother’s negative conflict strategies because girl are strongly socialized to inhibit anger expression from infancy onward and therefore may be more fascinated by how mothers handle interpersonal disputes (Zahn-Waxler & Polanichka, 2004); because young girls spend more time conversing with mothers about emotions (Kuebli et al., 1995); and because by adolescence girls report being more threatened by marital conflict (Grych et al., 2004) and more caught between parents than boys do. On the other hand, boys may be less differentially vulnerable to mothers’ negative conflict strategies because they face less socialization pressure away from open anger expression, spend less time conversing with mothers, and perhaps also because social aggression may violate gender norms for boys. It has been reported in Western cultures that girls may be more involved in family activities with the mother (e.g., Crouter, Manke, & McHale, 1995), and thus more responsive and sensitive to maternal influences than boys (e.g., Hart et al., 1992). This may be also the case in China because girls are often expected to help the mother with household chores while boys are typically encouraged to go out and play with peers. Consequently, maternal parenting styles may have greater impact on girls than on boys. However, there is a little research on the role of father in development of aggression. The role of the father as the

authority figure in the Chinese family is mainly to help children learn societal values and develop appropriate behaviors (Ho, 1986). As behavioral control in boys is a more salient issue and requires more monitoring and direction than in girls, fathers may pay particular attention to boys’ behavioral problems such as aggression. As a result, fathers’ attitudes concerning discipline and training may be more relevant to the development of aggressive behavior in boys.

Conclusion

The review of studies suggest that aggressive behavior has been perceived as affording protection and a way to exert control over others’ disliked and threatening behavior. Consequently, it becomes an important feature of the child’s interactions with others. Although, more research is necessary on why all the factors mentioned above are the causes of aggression in children. It is also necessary to have more research on father’s impact of aggression on children. Further investigation should explore the mechanisms by which parental conflict strategies are related to aggression. One implication of the studies is that there is not enough research on Western cultures and aggression; most of the studies are conducted on Asian countries. Future research should be done on developing countries because I think people have more nontraditional views which could mean that they think differently unlike Asian countries.

References

Chen, S.M. (2009) Aggressive behavior in early elementary school children: relations to authoritarian parenting, children’s negative emotionality and coping strategies. Early child development and care 180 (9) 1253-1269.

Chen, X., Chen, H., Wang, L., & Liu, M. (2002). Noncompliance and child- rearing attitudes as predictors of aggressive behavior: A longitudinal study in chinese children. International journal of behavioral development 26(3), 225-233.

Fung, J.J., & Lau, A.S. Factors associated with parent- child (Dis)agrement on child behavior and parenting problem in chinese immigrant families. Journal of clinical child & Adolescent psycholgoy,39 (3), 314-427.

Gerard, J.M., Krishnakumar, A., & Buehler, C. (2006). Martial conflict, parent- child relations, and youth maladjustment. Journal of family issues. 27(7), 951-975.

Herrenkohl, R.C., & Russo, M.J. (2001). Abusive early child rearing and early childhood aggression. Child maltreatment (6), 3-16.

Kawabata, Y., Alink, L.R.A., Tseng, W.L., Ijzendoorn. M.H.v., & Crick, N.R. (2011). Maternal and parenting styles associated with relational aggression in children and adolescents.

Developmental review 1-39.

Knutson, J.F., Garmo, D.D. & Koeppl, G. (2005). Care neglect, supervisory neglect, and harsh parenting in the development of children’s aggression: a replication and extension. Child maltreatment 10(2), 92-107.

Law, D.M., Shapka, J.D.& Olson, B.F. (2010). To control or not control? Parenting behaviors and adolescent online aggression. Computers in human behavior 26(6), 1651-1656.

Underwood, M.K., Beron, K. J., Gentsch, K.J., Galperin, G.M., & Risser, D.S. (2008). Family correlates of children’s social and physical aggression with peers: Negative interparental conflict strategies and parenting styles. International journal of behavioral development 32(6), 549-562.

Wissink, I.B., Dekovic, M., & Meijer, M.A. (2006). Parenting behavior, Quality of the parent- adolescent relationship, and adolescent functioning in four ethnic groups. Journal of Early Adolescence 26(2), 133-159.