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It is a taboo subject that is rarely discussed because it is not often admitted by parents and children, but it is the reality for many families: there are children and teenagers who assault their parents. A new study has analysed the factors that lead to this violence from children to parents.
"On occasions adolescents assault their parents because the parents themselves have been violent towards the children or among themselves. Through exposure to family violence, children learn to be violent. Other times, it is the lack of affectionate and positive communication between parents and their children, the lack of quality time that is dedicated to the children, or permissive parenting styles that do not impose limits," affirms Esther Calvete, the main author of the study and a researcher at the University of Deusto.
The study involved interviewing 591 adolescents from nine public and eleven private secondary schools in Vizcaya over the course of three years, allowing for analysis of the relationship between narcissism and aggression directed at parents by their children. "In some cases we can observe that element of narcissism: it concerns adolescents who feel that they should have everything that they want, right here and now. They don't take no for an answer. When their parents try to establish limits, the children react aggressively," emphasizes Calvete.
The results demonstrate that exposure to violence during the first year of the study ended up in aggressions directed towards the parents during the third year. Similarly, a distant relationship between parents and children in the first year of the study was connected to narcissistic and an oversized self-image in the teenagers during the second year, with brought with it aggression towards fathers and mothers during the last year.
For that reason, according to the scientists, practices of education and upbringing are key. "If the parents do not raise their children with a sense of responsibility and respect, it is easy for the children to develop problems of aggressive behaviour. If the parents were violent when the children were small, it increases the risk of aggressive behaviour in children," the expert affirms.
But the behaviour displayed by fathers and mothers is not the only element. The temperament of the children is another important component, and some boys and girls are more impulsive and learn violent behaviour more easily," she adds.
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Category(s):Teenage Issues
Source material from SINC
