Exposure to family violence makes children aggressive: Study

Exposure to family violence and lack of affectionate behaviour towards children make them violent, a study reveals.

"On occasions adolescents assault their parents because the parents themselves have been violent towards the children or among themselves," Esther Calvete, lead author from the University of Deusto in Spain, said while analysing the factors that lead to violence from children to parents.

"On 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," Calvete added.

The study, published in the journal Developmental Psychology, involved 591 adolescents from Spain's Vizcaya district over the course of three years, allowing for analysis of the relationship between narcissism and aggression directed at parents by their children.

The results demonstrated that exposure to violence during the first year of the study ended up in aggressions directed towards the parents during the third year.

These young people easily have the tendency to feel frustrated and rejected. When it occurs, first comes the yelling and insults, followed by physical aggression.

Similarly, a distant relationship between parents and children in the first year of the study was connected to narcissistic and an oversized self-image during the second year, with brought with it aggression towards their parents during the last year.

"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," Calvete explained.

"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," Calvete said.