Article 1: Acceptability of aggression among children who reside with substance-abusing parents: The influence of behavioural dysregulation, exposure to neighbourhood violence, and interparental violence
Due to the idea that acceptance of aggression leads to acts of aggression, this research was carried out to understand how various environmental and individual aspects affected the acceptability of aggression in children. It was hypothesized that observing violence in multiple forms increases the acceptability of both provoked and unprovoked aggression for youth, especially older.
The participants were comprised of 110 families including a mother, father and the youngest child. To be eligible for the research, one or both parents had to meet the DSM-IV-TR criteria for drug or alcohol disorder. Opportunity sampling was used to recruit families through advertisements and two clinics designed for those seeking help in relation to drug or alcohol disorder. 56 of the children were boys and 52 were girls (with 2 genders not being disclosed) with 9.81 years being the mean age. The acceptability of aggression in children was assessed through the Normative Believes about Aggression Scale (NOBAGS). This test is made up of 20 items which addressed both acceptability towards provoked and unprovoked aggression. Children were asked to rate each item on a scale of 1-4 (where 1 meant it’s wrong and 4 meant it’s perfectly okay). The scores were then used to rate the child’s overall acceptance of aggression. To measure a child’s exposure to violence the Exposure to Violence Scale (MyETV) was used and was another self-reporting measure. Interparental Violence (IPV) was also measured using a self-reporting system, however mothers and fathers both completed the Physical Assault subscale of the CTS2 separately from each other.
The results of the research showed that children who witnessed father-mother IPV were less accepting of aggression both provoked and unprovoked. It is believed that this is due to children observing harm towards their own mother and feeling unsafe as a result. These results contrasted with multiple levels of research done involving domestic violence. The major limitation found in this study was that physical acts of aggression were not tested but rather child acceptability of aggression. Therefore, it is unknown whether the children would not react aggressively in certain situations. Another limitation was that the study was cross-sectional. It is suggested that in future research studies should be longitudinal.
Article 2: Physical family violence and externalizing and internalizing behaviours among children and adolescents
To find out what forms of family violence affect both internalizing and externalizing behaviours in children, research was carried out to examine the effects of varying types of physical family violence on these behaviours. The hypothesis formed for this research was that each family violence would result in aggressive externalized and internalized behaviours in children of all ages, however direct physical abuse would only affect externalized behaviours in preschool children whereas in adolescents it was expected to influence both externalizing and internalizing behaviours.
The study that took place was longitudinal and consisted of a base sample of 1,899 children. Stratified sampling was utilized in a variation (IFS enabled) to research within smaller cities, rural areas and larger urban areas. All children within the sample were between the ages of 3-18. The final sample was made up of 2,042 children between 3-18 from 1,033 different families. 48.8% of the sample were boys and 51.2% were girls. 21.7% of the sample was made of 3-5 year olds, 52.2% of 6-12 year olds and 26.1% of 13-18 year olds, with the mean age being 9.87 years. Externalizing and internalizing behaviours were both assessed through the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) which was a self-reporting system that consisted of children recording a score of 0-2 (where 0 was never and 2 was often true). Child physical abuse, exposure to intimate parental violence and sibling abuse was also assessed through self-reporting.
It was found that physical intimate partner violence greatly influenced externalizing behaviours for those aged 3-5, exposure to the abuse of a sibling greatly affected the externalizing behaviours of 6-12 year olds and child physical abuse affected the externalizing behaviours of those aged 13-18. It was also found that no form of physical violence affected the internalized behaviours of any of the children. The findings of this research therefore illustrate a positive link between family violence and externalizing behaviours in children. The researchers concluded that this was due to children observing their parents and viewing their behaviours as acceptable and therefore displaying these behaviours themselves. A limitation of the study was the self-reporting mechanism as opposed to observing participants. It was also suggested that in future research that the various types of family violence should be considered when studying the effect these have on behaviours in children.