Development pathways from abusive parenting to delinquency: The mediating role of depression and aggression

• Published in: Child abuse & neglect 2015-08, Vol.46, p.152-162
• Main Authors: You, Sukkyung, Lim, Sun Ah
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abuse; Adaptation, Psychological; Adolescent; Adult; Age Distribution; Aged; Aggression; Aggression - psychology; Aggressiveness; Child; Child abuse & neglect; Child Abuse - psychology; Child Rearing; Delinquency; Delinquency behaviors; Depression; Depression (Psychology); Depressive Disorder - psychology; Developmental Disabilities - psychology; Early Adolescents; Educational Status; Family Health; Female; Grade 7; Humans; Juvenile delinquency; Juvenile Delinquency - psychology; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Mental depression; Mental health; Middle Aged; Neglect; Parenting - psychology; Parents; Parents & parenting; Pediatrics; Physical Abuse - psychology; Psychiatry; Republic of Korea; Teenagers; Violence; Violence - psychology
• ISSN: 0145-2134; 1873-7757
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.05.009

Abstract This study investigated the long-term relationship between abusive parenting and adolescent mental health, and the path to delinquent behavior. Longitudinal data from 5th through 7th graders from the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey (KCYPS) were analyzed to examine if abusive parenting was a predictor of early adolescent delinquency behavior, via aggression and depression as mediating factors. The results were as follows. First, parental abuse (both emotional and physical) was found to have significant effects on children's psychosocial factors (aggression and depression), while parental neglect (both emotional and physical) had significant effects on depression alone and not on aggression. Second, aggression exerted significant effects on both violent and non-violent delinquent behaviors, while depression had a significant effect on only non-violent delinquent behaviors. Third, children's psychosocial factors (aggression and depression) played significant mediating roles between earlier abusive parenting and delinquent behaviors. Fourth, for children living in a family with their grandparents, paths from abusive parenting, psychosocial adaptation, and later delinquent behaviors were not significant, implying that living with grandparents played a protective factor in these relationships.