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Processes Underlying Children's Adjustment in Families Characterized by Physical Aggression *
Author(s) -
Onyskiw Judee E.,
Hayduk Leslie A.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
family relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1741-3729
pISSN - 0197-6664
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-3729.2001.00376.x
Subject(s) - aggression , lisrel , prosocial behavior , psychology , observational study , developmental psychology , observational learning , clinical psychology , structural equation modeling , medicine , statistics , mathematics education , mathematics , pathology , experiential learning
The hypothesis that physical aggression in the family affects children's adjustment through both observational learning/modeling and through its impact on parenting was tested (via LISREL) using data from a representative sample of Canadian children ( N = 11,221 ). Results showed that observational learning and disrupted parenting provide reasonable, if only partial explanations, of mothers' assessments of children's adjustment in families characterized by physical aggression. Models for preschool (4–5 years), young (6–9 years), and older school‐age (10–11 years) children fit acceptably and showed similar but weak effects. Children reported to witness more aggression also were reported to behave more aggressively. Mothers who reported being less warm and responsive in parenting reported that their children were more aggressive, had more internalizing behaviors, and had fewer prosocial behaviors.