A Study On The Relationship Between Harsh Parenting And Adolescents' Aggressive Behavior Toward Their Parent

Harsh parenting is a kind of negative parenting behavior of parents to children.It is usually a compulsory behavior measure taken by parents to educate disobedient children.However,such behavior does not solve the problem fundamentally.In contrast,harsh parenting can have negative effects on adolescents’ cognition and behavior.Child-to-parent aggression/violence is a serious externalizing behavior problem,which refers to any behavior that teenagers cause physical,psychological or other harm to their parents.But few studies have focused at how this happens.Research has found that adverse early experiences lead children to adopt some maladaptive attitudes and beliefs,which are eventually internalized in the process of self-development and become the basis for behavioral responses.Normative beliefs about aggression are beliefs about the extent to which an individual believes that aggression is a legitimate social behavior.Strong belief in aggressive norms will increase the likelihood of aggressive behavior.Negative parenting styles and poor cognitive beliefs are important risk factors for impaired moral cognitive development.Moral disengagement is the cognitive reasoning process in the inner world of an individual,through which an individual can escape moral sanction and produce more problematic behaviors.Based on this,this study intends to explore the relationship between harsh parenting and child-to-parent aggression,investigate the role of normative beliefs about aggression and moral disengagement between them,and reveal the effect of harsh parenting on child-to-parent aggression and its mechanisms.Considering the differences in parenting roles between father and mother,the current study examined the effects of father(mother)harsh parenting on child-to-father(mother)aggression.In study 1,the adolescent child-to-parent aggression questionnaire towards was revised,through translation and modification to suit the use of domestic subjects.A total of 381 teenagers were selected as the sample,and the collected data were analyzed and processed.The results show that the revised questionnaire has good reliability and validity.Study 2 examined the mediating role of normative beliefs about aggression in the relationship between father(mother)harsh parenting and child-to-father(mother)aggression.In this study,431 junior high school students were selected as subjects.The results showed that there is a significant positive correlation between harsh parenting and child-to-parent aggression.The normative beliefs about aggression played a partial mediating role between harsh parenting and child-to-parent aggression.Study 3 examined the mediating role of adolescents’ moral disengagement between harsh parenting and child-to-parent aggression.In the study,428 junior high school students were selected as subjects.Adolescents’ moral disengagement partially mediated the relationship between harsh parenting and child-to-parent aggression.According to the general aggression model,normative beliefs could affect the individual’s moral disengagement(Dewall et al.,2011).Therefore,Study 4,based on the previous two studies,explored the relationship between harsh parenting and child-to-parent aggression,and examined the sequential mediating mechanism of adolescents’ normative beliefs about aggression and moral disengagement.In the study,784 junior high school students were selected as subjects.The results showed that,the normative beliefs about aggression and moral disengagement played a partial mediating role between harsh parenting and child-to-parent aggression.Namely,harsh parenting increased child-to-parent aggression mainly by strengthening adolescents’ normative belief about aggression and triggering moral disengagement.The mediating effect of moral disengagement is greater than that normative beliefs about aggression.In all of these studies,it was found that harsh parenting by one parent led to aggression towards the other.To recap,the level of harsh parenting of mothers is higher than that of fathers.Harsh parenting is a risk factor for adolescents’ normative beliefs about aggression,moral disengagement and childto-parent aggression.The effects of adolescents’ moral disengagement on child-to-parent aggression were greater than that of adolescents’ normative beliefs about aggression.Therefore,By becoming more involved in the upbringing of their children,fathers may be able to reduce the conflict caused by prolonged contact between mothers and children.For adolescents in the critical period of development,parents should consciously set up a good example in the process of education,adopt positive strategies,give children more patience and warm care,which is conducive to the formation of adolescents’ healthy cognition,use correct cognitive strategies,reduce negative behavior problems,and promote family harmony.