Child aggression and parenting behavior: Understanding the child-driven effects with parents’ emotion regulation as a moderator.

Journal of Family Psychology, Vol 37(5), Aug 2023, 624-634; doi:10.1037/fam0001081The present study examined the longitudinal relations between child aggression and coercive parenting behaviors and the moderating role of parental emotion regulation strategies in these relations. The sample of this study were 168 children (88 girls; Mage = 60.97 months, SD = 5.51) and their parents recruited from five kindergartens. At Time 1 (T1), parents reported their own use of coercive parenting behaviors (i.e., physical coercion and psychological control) and emotion regulation strategies (i.e., suppression and reappraisal). A coloring task was administered to assess the child’s aggression at the child’s kindergarten. At Time 2 (T2; approximately 6 months later), mothers and fathers again reported their coercive parenting behaviors. Results indicate that suppression served as a moderator in the relations between child aggression and mothers’ coercive parenting behavior. Specifically, (a) T1 child aggression was not directly predictive of T2 coercive parenting behaviors; (b) child overt aggression at T1 was associated with increased coercive parenting behaviors at T2 among mothers reporting higher use of suppression and was associated with decreased coercive parenting behaviors at T2 among mothers reporting lower use of suppression; (c) T1 child covert aggression was associated with increased T2 psychological control among mothers with more use of suppression and was associated with...
Source: Journal of Family Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research