Parental self-control and the development of male aggression in early childhood: a longitudinal test of self-control theory

A number of studies have evaluated associations between parenting practices, adolescent self-control, and adolescent antisocial behavior. Yet, few studies have examined associations between these constructs in early childhood or examined the extent to which both maternal and paternal self-control sh...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Meldrum, Ryan Charles (Author)
Contributors: Verhoeven, Marjolein ; Junger, Marianne
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2018
In: International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology
Year: 2018, Volume: 62, Issue: 4, Pages: 935-957
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
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Keywords:
Childhood aggression
Child self-control
Erziehung
Gottfredson, Michael R.
Hirschi, Travis
Kindheitsentwicklung
Kontrolltheorie
Parental self-control
Parenting practices
Description
Summary:A number of studies have evaluated associations between parenting practices, adolescent self-control, and adolescent antisocial behavior. Yet, few studies have examined associations between these constructs in early childhood or examined the extent to which both maternal and paternal self-control shapes them. To address these gaps, the current study utilizes longitudinal data collected on a sample of 117 Dutch boys and their parents to investigate the across time interrelationships between parental self-control, ineffective parenting, child self-control, and child aggression. The results provide evidence of an indirect association between maternal self-control and early childhood self-control through maternal ineffective parenting, an indirect association between maternal ineffective parenting and early childhood aggression through early childhood self-control, and an indirect association between maternal self-control and early childhood aggression through both maternal ineffective parenting and early childhood self-control. In contrast, paternal self-control and paternal ineffective parenting were unrelated to child self-control and child aggression. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed.
ISSN:1552-6933
DOI:10.1177/0306624X16662921