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Listening In: How Parent-Child Communication Relates to Social and Physical Aggression

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Abstract

In this study, we investigated the relations between features of parent-child conversations (neutral talk, positive and negative in-dyad and out-dyad talk) and children’s social and physical aggression from ages 9–18. Participants were 297 youth (52% girls) of about 9 years old at Time 1 and their parent. Fifty-two percent of this United States sample identified as White, 20% Black, 20% Hispanic, 8% other races/ethnicities. One hundred eighty-seven parents participated in the parent-child observation task. Ninety four percent of parent participants were mothers. Parent-child conversations were observed in the laboratory during preadolescence, and teachers reported child’s aggression. Using multinomial logit analyses, we found that coded observations of communication features predicted membership in linear trajectories of social and physical aggression across nine years of adolescence; trajectories were derived via mixture modeling. Parent and child communication characteristics were related to trajectories of aggression that spanned preadolescence and adolescence; however, not all predicted associations were significant. Children’s talk about neutral topics predicted being on a lower social aggression trajectory. Positive out-dyad talk from children was related to being on a lower physical aggression trajectory, as was parent in-dyad positive talk. After controlling for other factors, neither parent nor child in- or out-dyad negative talk was associated with social or physical aggression. These findings highlight the importance of positive communication by youth and toward youth in association with long-term social adjustment.

Highlights

  • Child neutral talk predicted being on a lower social aggression trajectory.

  • Child positive out-dyad talk related to lower child physical aggression trajectory.

  • Parent positive in-dyad talk related to lower child physical aggression trajectory.

  • Parent and child in- or out-dyad negative talk did not predict aggression.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services, Utah State University, 2905 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322, USA

    Diana J. Meter

  2. College of Education and Human Development, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 N Virginia St., MS 140, Reno, NV, 89557, USA

    Samuel E. Ehrenreich

  3. School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, 800W. Campbell Road, GR 31, Richardson, TX, 75080, USA

    Kurt Beron

  4. Dean of the College of Health and Human Services, Purdue University, Stone Hall, Room 110, 700W. State Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    Marion K. Underwood

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  1. Diana J. Meter
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  2. Samuel E. Ehrenreich
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  3. Kurt Beron
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  4. Marion K. Underwood
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Correspondence to Marion K. Underwood.

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This research was conducted in full accordance with the ethical principles outlined by the American Psychological Association and the SRCD guidelines for research with child participants. These research procedures were approved annually by the Institutional Review Board of University of Texas at Dallas.

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This research involved human participants, and therefore informed consent was attained from parents, and assent was provided by child participants.

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Meter, D.J., Ehrenreich, S.E., Beron, K. et al. Listening In: How Parent-Child Communication Relates to Social and Physical Aggression. J Child Fam Stud 30, 1540–1553 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-01959-7

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