Parental Physical and Psychological Aggression and Dating Violence: A Latent Class Analysis Approach

Background and Purpose: According to the CDC, 8.2 % of high-school students who were in a dating relationship during the past year had been victimized by physical dating violence. Violence in the home of origin has repeatedly been shown to be a prominent risk factor for adolescents’ own use of aggression with peers and dating partners; however, most studies do not separate witnessing parental violence from direct violence against the child, and it may be that the latter has more severe consequences across development. From a social learning theory perspective, this study delineates how parental aggression in childhood is associated with adolescent dating violence, aggression, and impulsivity.

Method: Data came from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Data were restricted to adolescents in a current dating relationship (N = 952). Measures included parental physical and psychological aggression, dating violence and dating violence victimization, and adolescent aggression and impulsivity. Latent class analysis (LCA) was conducted in Mplus. Number of classes were chosen using the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC), Entropy, and the Vuong-Lo-Mendell-Rubin Likelihood Ratio Test (VLMR LRT). LCA results were imported to Stata, where Welch’s t-tests were conducted to examine mean differences in aggression and impulsivity across classes.

Results: The 3-class model (BIC: 6456.504, Entropy: 0.75, VLMR LRT: 210.94, p < .001) was favored over the 4-class model (BIC: 6466.921, Entropy: 0.65, VLMR LRT: 78.74, p = .010). Class 1 adolescents (non-violent parenting and dating, 15.86%) exhibited no dating violence, experienced no parent physical aggression ages 3-15, and experienced parent psychological aggression at ages 3, 5, and 9, but not 15. Class 2 adolescents (aggressive parenting, non-aggressive dating, 76.26%) exhibited no dating violence, experienced parent physical aggression at ages 3-9 but not 15, and experienced parent psychological aggression ages 3-15. Class 3 adolescents (aggressive parenting and dating, 7.88%) exhibited dating violence victimization and perpetration, and experienced parent physical and psychological aggression ages 3-15. Class 1 was less aggressive than Class 2 (t[239.13] = -3.78, p = .002) and Class 3 (t[116.99] = -3.44, p < .001), and was less impulsive than Class 2 (t[224.08] = -3.34, p = .001) and Class 3 (t[179.58] = -5.22, p < .001). Class 2 was less impulsive than Class 3 (t[101.62] = -3.43, p < .001) but did not differ from Class 3 in aggression (t[85.80] = -1.59, p = .116).

Conclusions and Implications: Adolescents who did not experience any parent physical aggression in childhood tended to not experience dating violence victimization or perpetration, and also exhibited low levels of aggression and impulsivity. In accordance with Social Learning Theory, parental modeling of non-physical responses to behavior problems throughout childhood may be important for adolescent dating relationships.