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Disrupting intergenerational continuity in harsh parenting: Self-control and a supportive partner

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2016

Thomas J. Schofield ,
Rand D. Conger  and
Kathi J. Conger
Thomas J. Schofield*
Affiliation:
Iowa State University
Rand D. Conger
Affiliation:
University of California–Davis
Kathi J. Conger
Affiliation:
University of California–Davis
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Thomas J. Schofield, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Iowa State University, 1360 Palmer, Ames, IA 50010; E-mail: tomschofield@gmail.com.
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Abstract

Harsh, abusive, and rejecting behavior by parents toward their children is associated with increased risk for many developmental problems for youth. Children raised by harsh parents are also more likely to treat their own children harshly. The present study addresses conditions that would break this intergenerational cycle of harsh parenting. Data come from a three-generation study of a cohort of 290 adolescents (Generation 2 [G2], 52% female) grown to adulthood and their parents (Generation 1 [G1]). During adolescence, observers rated G1 harsh parenting to G2. Several years later observers rated G2 harsh parenting toward their oldest child (Generation 3 [G3]). Several adaptive systems fundamental to human resilience attenuate intergenerational continuity in harshness. G2 parents were relatively less harsh to G3 children (notwithstanding a history of harshness from G1) when G2's romantic partner (a) communicated positively with G2 and (b) had a good relationship with G3, and (c) when G2 was high on self-control. Interventions that target all of these protective factors may not only break but also reverse the intergenerational cycle of child maltreatment.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 29 , Issue 4 , October 2017 , pp. 1279 - 1287
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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Footnotes

This research is currently supported by Grant HD064687 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agencies. Support for earlier years of the study also came from multiple sources, including the National Institute of Mental Health (MH00567, MH19734, MH43270, MH59355, MH62989, MH48165, MH051361), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA05347), the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD027724, HD051746, HD047573), the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health (MCJ-109572), and the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Adolescent Development Among Youth in High-Risk Settings.

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