Interparental Violence and Children's Long-Term Psychosocial Adjustment: The Mediating Role of Parenting Practices

• Published in: The Spanish journal of psychology 2012-03, Vol.15 (1), p.145-155
• Main Authors: Gámez-Guadix, Manuel, Almendros, Carmen, Carrobles, José Antonio, Muñoz-Rivas, Marina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Anti-social behaviour; Antisocial Personality Disorder - psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child clinical studies; Depression; Depressive Disorder - psychology; Domestic Violence - psychology; Educational Status; Female; Gender; Gender Identity; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Medical sciences; Miscellaneous; Models, Psychological; Parenting; Parenting - psychology; Personality Development; Personality Inventory - statistics & numerical data; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychometrics; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychosociology; Social Adjustment; Social Desirability; Spouse Abuse - psychology; Statistics as Topic; Victimology; Violence; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1138-7416; 1988-2904
• DOI: 10.5209/rev_SJOP.2012.v15.n1.37299

The objectives of this study were: (a) to examine the direct and indirect relationships among witnessing interparental violence, parenting practices, and children's long-term psychosocial adjustment; (b) to analyze the possible gender differences in the relationships specified. The sample consisted of 1295 Spanish university students (M age = 21.21, SD = 4.04). We performed statistical analyses using structural equation modeling. The results showed that witnessing parental violence as a child is related to poor long-term psychosocial adjustment during the child's adult years. Furthermore, we found that parenting practices fully mediated the relation between witnessing interparental violence and the child's long-term adjustment. The multigroup analyses showed that most of the relations among the variables did not differ significantly by gender. However, the relation between harsh discipline and antisocial behavior was stronger for males, whereas the relation between harsh discipline and depressive symptoms was stronger for females. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings for the clinicians and specialists who plan and develop intervention programs for populations at risk. Los objetivos de este estudio fueron: a) analizar las relaciones directas e indirectas entre la exposición a la violencia marital, la conducta parental y el ajuste psicosocial a largo plazo de los hijos; b) examinar la posible existencia de diferencias en las relaciones analizadas en función del sexo del participante. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 1295 estudiantes universitarios (74.4% mujeres; Medad = 21.21, DT = 4.04). Para analizar las hipótesis del estudio se estimaron varios modelos de ecuaciones estructurales. Los hallazgos sugieren que la relación entre violencia marital y ajuste psicosocial de los hijos a largo plazo se produce de forma indirecta a través de un deterioro de diversos aspectos de la conducta parental. Concretamente, las dimensiones de disciplina severa, afecto/apoyo parental y consistencia interparental e intraparental mediaron la relación entre la exposición a la violencia parental y sintomatología depresiva a largo plazo de los hijos. Por su parte, la disciplina severa y la consistencia intraparental mediaron la relación entre la violencia parental y las conductas antisociales. Los análisis por sexo revelaron que la mayoría de las relaciones observadas fueron similares entre hombres y mujeres. No obstante, la relación entre la disciplina severa y l