Ethnic Harassment and the Protective Effect of Positive Parenting on Immigrant Youths’ Antisocial Behavior

Background

The existing literature suggests that positive parenting might serve as a protective factor against immigrant adolescents’ engagement in externalizing difficulties when they are exposed to negative experiences of ethnic derogation. To date, little is known, however, about whether different dimensions of positive parenting may moderate the detrimental impact of ethnic harassment at school on immigrant youth’s antisocial behavior.

Objective

This study aimed to investigate which specific dimensions of positive parenting may act as a buffer against the detrimental impact of ethnic harassment at school on immigrant adolescents’ antisocial behavior (i.e., delinquency and violence).

Method

Using longitudinal data, we followed first- and second-generation immigrant adolescents (N?=?365; Mage?=?13.93, SD?=?.80; 46% girls; 37% first-generation) in Sweden over a period of one year. Data collection at Time 1 (T1) was completed in the spring semester of the school year, and Time 2 (T2) assessments took place a year after the first data collection. We ran a series of regressions analyses via the SPSS PROCESS macro for each dimension of positive parenting behavior and each type of antisocial behavior.

Results

We found that ethnically harassed immigrant adolescents who received parental warmth, perceived their influence on family decisions and whose parents were aware of their children’s daily activities were less likely to engage in delinquency and violence one year later. In addition, we saw that immigrant youth whose parents actively sought information about their offsprings’ lives were less prone to display violence in the face of ethnic harassment.

Conclusions

The results suggest that parents are important in overriding the noxious effects of negative peer interactions targeting their children’s ethnic background, even during an adolescence marked by significant changes in child–parent and child–peer relationships. These findings might inform the development of intervention components for testing in interventions studies aimed at preventing immigrant youths’ antisocial behavior and future involvement in violent criminal offences.

     

A Longitudinal Study of the Relation Between Depressive Symptomatology and Parenting Practices

This longitudinal study examined whether mothers' depressive symptomatology predicted parenting practices in a sample of 199 mothers of 3‐year‐old children with behavior problems who were assessed yearly until age 6. Higher maternal depressive symptoms were associated with higher overreactivity and laxness and lower warmth when children were 6 years old. Higher maternal depressive symptoms were also related to increases in overreactivity across the preschool years. Moreover, depression and parenting practices (overreactivity and laxness) covaried over time within mothers. These results provide evidence of a strong link between maternal depression and parenting during the preschool years.     

Violence perpetration across peer and partner relationships: co-occurrence and longitudinal patterns among adolescents.

PURPOSE: To examine the co-occurrence and consistency over time of peer violence, sexual aggression, and dating violence among European American and Mexican-American adolescent boys and girls. METHODS: One-hundred-twelve girls and 135 boys who were either European American or Mexican-American were recruited from a large health maintenance organization. They were interviewed by telephone at baseline (at ages 16 to 20 years) and at one-year follow-up. Variable-centered and person-centered analyses examined the co-occurrence of violent behavior across domains, and whether adolescents who engaged in violent behavior at baseline also engaged in violent behavior during the following year. RESULTS: Results indicated that adolescent boys who engaged in violence in one domain were more likely to engage in violence in other domains during the same time period. Results for girls were less consistent. For boys but not girls, perpetration of either sexual aggression or peer violence was a significant predictor of the same behavior at follow-up. Person-centered analyses indicated that boys who perpetrated both peer violence and sexual aggression at baseline were most likely to perpetrate later violence. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that adolescent boys who engage in peer violence are also at risk for perpetrating sexual aggression or dating violence. Boys who perpetrate peer violence and sexual aggression are at high risk for later violence. Interventions with a dual focus on peer and partner violence may be valuable.     

Contribution of Family Violence to the Intergenerational Transmission of Externalizing Behavior

Research finds that early antisocial behavior is a risk for later intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration and victimization, and that children??s exposure to their parents?? IPV is a risk for subsequent behavior problems. This study tests whether intimate violence (IPV) between partners contributes independently to the intergenerational transmission of antisocial behavior, using the Children in the Community Study, a representative sample (N?=?821) followed for over 25?years in 6 assessments. The present study includes a subsample of parents (N?=?678) and their offspring (N?=?396). We test the role of three mechanisms by which IPV may influence child antisocial behavior??parental psychopathology, parenting practices, and child self-regulation. Results suggest that IPV independently increased the risk for offspring externalizing problems, net of the effects of parental history of antisocial behavior and family violence. IPV also increased the risk for parental post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder 2?years later, but not for major depressive disorder. Alcohol use disorder independently increased the risk for offspring externalizing behavior, but IPV continued to predict offspring externalizing net of parental alcohol use. Parenting, particularly low satisfaction with the child, was significantly associated with both IPV and externalizing behavior, but did not mediate the effects of IPV on externalizing. IPV predicted higher levels of emotional expressivity, aggression and hostile reactivity, and depressive mood in offspring. Implications for future research and prevention are discussed.     

Dyadic Parenting and Children's Externalizing Symptoms

We explore dyadic parenting styles and their association with first‐grade children's externalizing behavior symptoms in a sample of 85 working‐class, dual‐earner families. Cluster analysis is used to create a typology of parenting types, reflecting the parental warmth, overreactivity, and laxness of both mothers and fathers in two‐parent families. Three distinct groups emerged: Supportive Parents, Mixed‐Support Parents, and Unsupportive Parents. Results indicate that dyadic parenting styles were related to teacher‐reported externalizing symptoms for boys but not for girls.     

What Accounts for Demographic Differences in Trajectories of Adolescent Dating Violence? An Examination of Intrapersonal and Contextual Mediators

PURPOSE: To identify intrapersonal and contextual factors that mediate associations between demographic variables (minority status, socioeconomic status, family structure, gender, and neighborhood disadvantage) and trajectories of moderate and severe physical dating violence perpetration from ages 13-19 years. METHODS: Multi-wave data from 959 adolescents were analyzed using formal mediation analysis in a multilevel analytical framework. RESULTS: Gender and neighborhood disadvantage were not associated with trajectories of dating violence, and therefore mediation was not examined for those variables. At all ages, minority adolescents reported perpetrating significantly more moderate and severe physical dating violence than non-minority adolescents. Destructive communication skills, acceptance of dating abuse, gender stereotyping, and exposure to family violence significantly mediated those associations. Parental education was significantly negatively associated with moderate physical dating violence. Acceptance of dating abuse, gender stereotyping, and exposure to family violence significantly mediated that association. At all ages, adolescents from single-parent households perpetrated significantly more severe physical dating violence than adolescents from two-parent households, but no variables mediated that association. CONCLUSIONS: Each of the identified mediating variables is amenable to change through interventions targeted at high-risk subgroups of adolescents identified by these demographic characteristics.     

The Role of Social Support in Machismo and Acceptance of Violence Among Adolescents in Europe: Lights4Violence Baseline Results

PurposeTo analyze the potential association between social support, experiences of violence, and sociodemographic characteristics of adolescents and the likelihood of acceptance of violence and machismo in different European countries.MethodsCross-sectional design. We recruited 1,555 participants ages 13–16 from secondary schools in Alicante (Spain), Rome (Italy), Iasi (Romania), Matosinhos (Portugal), Poznan (Poland), and Cardiff (UK). We used linear regression models to identify how social support from teachers and parents, experiences of violence—dating violence, bullying, cyberbullying, abuse in childhood—and sociodemographic characteristics were associated with violent thinking, specifically: machismo and acceptance of violence. The analysis was stratified by sex.ResultsAcceptance of violence was higher for those who had lower perceived social support from parents (β_girls = ?154, p < .001; β_boys = ?.114, p = .019) for both sexes. Perpetration of bullying and/or cyberbullying was associated with higher scores for machismo and acceptance of violence for both sexes (β_girls = .067, p = .035; β_boys = .225, p < .001; (β_girls = .118, p < .001; β_boys = .210, p < .001). Being the victim of dating violence, having suffered physical and/or sexual abuse in childhood, and lower perceived social support from teachers were associated with higher scores for both machismo and acceptance of violence. These associations differed between girls and boys.ConclusionsMachismo and acceptance of violence are widely present amongst adolescents in different European countries. Our results suggest the importance of providing educational/psycho-educational interventions with boys and girls to prevent these attitudes and, in turn, prevent interpersonal violence, including bullying and dating violence.     

Childhood origins of teenage antisocial behaviour and adult social dysfunction.

The main aim of this research was to investigate the childhood predictors (age 8-10 years) of teenage antisocial behaviour (age 18 years) and adult social dysfunction (age 32 years). A sample of 411 London males was followed up from age 8 years to age 32 years. The most important childhood predictors of both outcomes (and of convictions) were measures of economic deprivation, poor parenting, an antisocial family and hyperactivity-impulsivity-attention deficit. However, childhood nervousness and social isolation were negatively related to teenage antisocial behaviour but positively related to adult social dysfunction. It was concluded that the development of adult social dysfunction depended not only on established causes of antisocial behaviour such as economic deprivation and poor parenting but also on causes of internalizing disorders such as childhood nervousness and social isolation.     

Biological,Familial, and Peer Influences on Dating in Early Adolescence

The current study examined the joint contributions of pubertal maturation, parental monitoring, involvement in older peer groups, peer dating, and peer delinquency on dating in a sample of early adolescent boys and girls. The sample consisted of 784 adolescents (394 boys, 390 girls) enrolled in grades 5, 6, and 7 who were followed for one year. In addition to measures of pubertal maturation and parental monitoring, adolescents and their peer group members completed indices of dating and delinquency. Average dating and delinquency scores for each participant's peer group network were computed. Results indicated that it was the combination of pubertal maturation, peer delinquency, and peer dating that explained increases in early dating. For boys only, parental monitoring was a significant predictor. The more knowledgeable parents were about their boys' activities, the lower the number of dating activities reported. These results highlight the importance of considering the joint effects of these biological and social predictors in understanding early dating. When rapid changes occur in all three domains, early dating is most likely to ensue. The findings of this study have practical importance. Parents and professionals who work closely with youth should attend to the special vulnerability of early maturing adolescents in the face of peer pressure and to the important role of parental monitoring in regulating dating activities.     

Perceived Discrimination and Antisocial Behaviors in Puerto Rican Children

This study examined whether perceived discrimination was related to antisocial behaviors (ASB) in a probability sample of Puerto Rican children living in the South Bronx, New York and the San Juan Metropolitan area of Puerto Rico (N = 1,271). After adjusting for a host of well-known factors associated with ASB, such as sociodemographic variables (i.e., age, gender, household composition), psychosocial stressors (i.e., stressful life events, exposure to violence), and various forms of violence and abuse (i.e., coercive parental discipline, verbal, psychological, physical and sexual abuse), perceived discrimination remained a robust correlate of ASB among both samples. Findings are discussed with reference to the detrimental associations of perceived discrimination.     

Parenting practices and tobacco use in middle school students in low- and middle-income countries

BACKGROUND: Parenting practices have been shown to have a strong influence on adolescent tobacco use in high‐income countries. This study examined whether parenting practices also were associated with tobacco use by middle school students (approximately ages 13‐15) in low‐ and middle‐income countries. METHODS: A secondary analysis was performed on data from 106,041 middle school students in 27 countries who participated in the Global School‐Based Health Survey conducted between 2003 and 2007. RESULTS: In nearly all countries, boys and older students were significantly more likely to use tobacco than girls and younger students. In most countries, students who reported a high level of parental understanding or a high level of parental awareness of their children's activities were significantly less likely to use tobacco than other students. The children of parents who used tobacco were significantly more likely to use tobacco than children of non‐users. After adjustment for age, sex, and parental tobacco use, the associations between parental understanding and awareness were statistically significant in 16 and 24 countries, respectively, of the 26 countries with parental tobacco use data. CONCLUSION: This multivariate analysis shows that positive parenting practices are significantly associated with decreased tobacco use among adolescents in low‐ and middle‐income countries, which matches previous findings from high‐income countries. Educating parents on the importance of their parenting practices may be an effective component of school‐based programs aimed at reducing adolescent tobacco use.     

Family and Early Adolescent Delinquency: A Comprehensive Sequential Family Control Model

Are family functioning variables, such as bonding and constraints, proximal intervening variables for the explanation of delinquency? Do marital relations, parental deviant models and structural variables intervene between parents' characteristics, family functioning variables and delinquency? Are the family characteristics which most efficiently explain adolescent delinquency and adult criminality the same as the ones that affect early adolescence offending? Can the explanation of delinquency be improved using a sequential family control model? In order to respond to these questions, a sample of 1029 six years old boys was recruited, and 894 of them were interviewed yearly from the ages of ten to twelve. Fourteen constructs were used to build and test the sequential family control model. They are: mother's childbearing age, socioeco-nomic disadvantage, family adversity, onset of delinquency, family rebellion, marital relations, parental deviance, parental deviant attitudes, attachment between parents and child, involvement in family activities, supervision, regulations, punishments, and delinquency. Through these constructs, a comprehensive sequential family control model was established.     

医专学生恋爱暴力与童年期虐待经历的关联

目的了解医学专科生恋爱暴力现况及其与不同形式童年期虐待的关联,为医学生恋爱暴力行为的防控提供依据。方法于2019年10-11月采用整群抽样的方法,以安徽省2所医学专科学校3727名有恋爱经历的一、二年级在校生为研究对象,了解一般人口统计学指标、童年期虐待和恋爱暴力等信息,分析不同形式童年期虐待与学生主动和被动恋爱暴力的关联。结果医学生主动恋爱暴力检出率为37.8%,被动恋爱暴力检出率为27.8%。女生童年期情感虐待检出率(61.9%)高于男生(51.6%),男生童年期躯体虐待(28.2%)和性虐待检出率(19.4%)高于女生(24.3%和10.5%)(χ~2值分别为33.84,6.33,52.97,P值均<0.01)。控制相关混杂因素的影响,童年期情感虐待、躯体虐待和性虐待均可能增加大学生恋爱关系中主动暴力[OR值(OR值95%CI)分别为1.71(1.48~1.98)、1.55(1.33~1.82)、1.75(1.43~2.15)]和被动暴力的风险[OR值(OR值95%CI)分别为1.84(1.43~2.16)、1.59(1.34~1.87)、1.62(1.32~2.00)](P值均<0.01)。童年期虐待和主被动恋爱暴力关联的强度性别间差异无统计学意义(P值均>0.05)。结论童年期虐待经历与医学生恋爱暴力的增加有关,减少童年期虐待有益于医学生恋爱暴力行为的防控。     

Delinquent risks of parental abuse at the age of 11 years among at-risk youth

Parental abuse is supposedly objectionable because it is the instigation of the child's delinquency. This instigation is likely to stem from the impairment of parental control arising from parental abuse, with respect to social control theory. For the substantiation of this likelihood, the present study surveyed 229 users of youth social work services in Hong Kong, China. Results illuminate the mediating role of parental control for the instigation of delinquency and delinquent intention by parental abuse reported to happen at the age of 11 years. The results imply the importance of curbing parental abuse and enhancing or reviving parental control after parental abuse to prevent delinquent risks and expedite rehabilitation from the risks.     

Dating violence victimization across the teen years: Abuse frequency, number of abusive partners, and age at first occurrence

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Prior longitudinal studies have shown high cumulative dating violence exposure rates among U.S adolescents, with 36 percent of males and 44 percent to 88 percent of females experiencing victimization across adolescence/young adulthood. Despite promising information characterizing adolescents' dating violence experiences longitudinally, prior studies tended to concentrate on physical and sexual types of violence only, and did not report information on the number of times dating violence was experienced across multiple abusive partners. We used a method similar to the timeline follow-back interview method to query adolescents about their experiences of dating violence from age 13 to 19--including dating violence types (physical, sexual, and psychological), frequency, age at first occurrence, and number of abusive partners. METHODS: A total of 730 subjects were randomly sampled from university registrar records and invited to complete an online survey, which utilized methods similar to the timeline follow-back interview method, to retrospectively assess relationship histories and dating violence victimization from age 13 to 19 (eight questions adapted from widely-used surveys covering physical, sexual, and psychological abuse/stalking). Then, for each dating violence type, we asked about the number of occurrences, number of abusive partners, and age at first occurrence. Of 341 subjects who completed the survey, we included 297 (64 percent females; 36 percent males) who had a dating partner from age 13 to 19. RESULTS: Fully 64.7 percent of females and 61.7 percent of males reported dating violence victimization between age 13 and 19, with most experiencing multiple occurrences. More than one-third of abused females had two or more abusive partners: controlling behavior (35.6 percent); put downs/name calling (37.0); pressured sex (42.9); insults (44.3); slapped/hit (50.0); and threats (62.5). Males also had two or more abusive partners, as follows: controlling behavior (42.1 percent); insults (51.2); put downs (53.3); threats (55.6); and unwanted calls/text messages (60.7). Among abused females, 44.7 percent first experienced controlling behavior between age 13 and 15, whereas the majority (62.5 percent) first experienced pressured sex between age 16 and 17. Among males, for most abuse types, 16 percent to 30 percent of victimization began before age 15. CONCLUSIONS: Our study adds information to a substantial, but still growing, body of literature about dating violence frequency, age of occurrence, and number of abusive partners among adolescents.     

Dating violence victimization: associated drinking and sexual risk behaviors of Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Caucasian high school students in Hawaii

Ethnic minority groups such as Asian/Pacific Islanders (APIs) and native populations in Hawaii are seldom studied in the area of intimate relationships. Using the 1999 Hawaii Youth Risk Behavior Survey, this study examined gender and ethnic differences in experiencing physical dating violence and whether drinking (early initiation, binge drinking), unsafe sexual behaviors (early initiation, multiple partners, use of alcohol and drugs with sex, history of sexual abuse), and suicidality constitute risk for victimization among APIs, Native Hawaiian (NH), and Caucasian high school students in multiethnic state of Hawaii. The final analysis included 559 boys and 683 girls. The overall rate of experiencing physical violence was 7.8% with both genders reporting similar rates (boys 7.6%, girls 8.0%). Although not significantly different, NH students reported a higher rate (11.6%) than Caucasians (7.3%) and APIs (6.5%). Significant bivariate associations were found between victimization and many of the risk factors. Regression analyses indicated that students 16 years or older were nearly 3 times more at risk for experiencing dating violence. The risk was 8-fold if youth were sexually active by age 13 compared to those who abstained. The risk is 3-fold for those who reported prior sexual abuse. Early initiation of drinking (<12 years) and suicidality doubled the risk of being a victim. Clearly, the study highlights the risk of experiencing dating violence when a teen engages in sex very early or uses alcohol. Schools must routinely educate youth about various forms of dating violence, the effects of engaging in early sex, and drinking. Screening adolescents for associated risk factors such as drinking and depression is crucial to identify victimization. Dating violence is an antecedent for adult partner violence. Thus, by reducing youth dating violence, we may consequently reduce the incidence of adult partner violence.     

Combating violence against children: Jordanian pre-service early childhood teachers’ perceptions towards child abuse and neglect

Early childhood teachers play major roles in defying child abuse and neglect and alleviating its detrimental effects on young children. Therefore, this study aimed at exploring how Jordanian pre-service early childhood teachers define and perceive violence against children and their role in child abuse detection and prevention. Furthermore, the study aimed at identifying pre-service early childhood perceived preparation needs in child abuse and neglect. To achieve the study purposes, an interpretive qualitative approach was utilised. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 25 pre-service early childhood teachers who completed a compulsory course in child abuse at the time of the study. Thematic analysis was applied to data through which findings were confined to three themes corresponding to the research questions: violence and abuse defined; perceived preparation needs; and perceived roles in child protection. Several implications and recommendations for educators and teacher preparation programmes were offered and discussed based on the findings of this study.     

The Influence of Maternal History of Abuse on Parenting Knowledge and Behavior

This study examined the intergenerational transmission of abuse among a sample of 681 teen, adult low, and adult high resource first-time mothers. Participants ranged in age from 14 to 36 years, with a mean of 20 years. Exposure to childhood emotional and physical abuse was associated with 6-month parenting behavior; but not parenting knowledge. Teen mothers, as opposed to adult mothers, had higher mean scores for exposure to childhood emotional and physical abuse. Adult high resource mothers reported lower mean scores on each abuse outcome than both teen and adult low resource mothers. For the total sample of mothers, as past exposure to emotional and physical abuse increased, maternal responsivity decreased, and opinions towards, and propensities for, abusive behavior increased.     

Perceived parental food controlling practices are related to obesogenic or leptogenic child life style behaviors

To better understand whether the parental food controlling practices pressure and restriction to eat are obesity preventing or obesity promoting, this study examined whether these parenting practices are related to other (food or non-food) areas that are generally regarded as obesogenic or leptogenic. Are these foods controlling practices more indicative of obesogenic or leptogenic child life style behaviors? In a sample of 7–12-year-old boys and girls (n = 943) the perceived parental food controlling practices were related to various measures for unhealthy life style. Using factor analysis we assessed whether there is a constellation of lifestyle behaviors that is potentially obesogenic or leptogenic. Remarkably, perceived parental restriction and pressure loaded on two different factors. Perceived parental restriction to eat had a negative loading on a factor that further comprised potential obesogenic child life style behaviors, such as snacking (positive loading), time spend with screen media (television or computer) (positive loadings) and frequency of fruit consumption (negative loading). Perceived parental pressure to eat had a positive loading on a factor that further comprised potential leptogenic life style behaviors such as frequency of eating a breakfast meal and sporting (positive loadings). It is concluded that low perceived parental restriction in regard to food may perhaps be a sign of more uninvolved ‘neglecting’ or indulgent parenting/obesogenic home environment, whereas high perceived parental pressure to eat may be sign of a more ‘concerned’ leptogenic parenting/home environment, though more research into style of parenting is needed.