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Concurrent and Across-Time Relations between Mother/Father Hostility and Children’s Aggression: A Longitudinal Study

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Abstract

This study examined the concurrent and across-time relations between father/mother hostility and child aggression in a sample of 523 (58.7% girls) primary and secondary school children. Data were collected over a period of 3 years, in which the children’s mean age was 11.1, 12.17, and 13.19 years old, respectively. Correlational analyses and cross-sectional and longitudinal structural equation models showed significant relations between parental hostility (both father and mother) and child aggression. These relations, which mainly concerned mothers, predicted future child aggression 1 and 2 years later. Child aggression and parental hostility also elicited each other, thus providing evidence for family socialization as an interactive process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dpto. Personalidad Evaluación y Tratamientos Psicológicos, Facultad de Psicología, UNED, Ciudad Universitaria, C/ Juan del Rosal, 10, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    M. A. Carrasco, M. A. Rodríguez & M. V. del Barrio

  2. Dpto. Metodología de las CC. del Comportamiento, Facultad de Psicología, UNED, Madrid, Spain

    F. P. Holgado

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  1. M. A. Carrasco
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  2. F. P. Holgado
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  3. M. A. Rodríguez
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  4. M. V. del Barrio
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Correspondence to M. A. Carrasco.

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This study have been supported by the Vicerrectorado de Investigación UNED as part of the Research Promotion Plan.

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Carrasco, M.A., Holgado, F.P., Rodríguez, M.A. et al. Concurrent and Across-Time Relations between Mother/Father Hostility and Children’s Aggression: A Longitudinal Study. J Fam Viol 24, 213–220 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-009-9222-y

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