Intermediate Effects Between Experiences of Violence at Home, School, Street, TV and Child-to-Parent Violence

Exposure to violence is an adverse experience related to child-to-parent violence. The objectives were to examine differences in child-to-parent violence according to the sex and age of the children and to analyse the mediating role of reactive and instrumental reasons between exposure to direct and indirect violence across different contexts and time frames and child-to-parent violence towards fathers and mothers. A total of 2150 Ecuadorian adolescents aged 12–18 years participated in this study. Overall, child-to-parent violence did not vary as a function of sex or age; however, significant differences were observed when specific forms of child-to-parent violence were examined. Daughters reported engaging in more physical violence and control/domain behaviours than sons. In general, reactive reasons showed a stronger mediating effect than instrumental reasons across both types of exposure to violence and across both time frames. Exposure to violence in the home was found to be the strongest predictor compared with exposure to violence at school, in the street and on television; moreover, it was shown to have a greater impact on child-to-parent violence directed towards mother. This study provides valuable information for prevention and intervention programmes, as it highlights that the reasons why children use violence against their parents are more reactive than instrumental.