Characteristics of adolescent violence towards parents – a Rapid Evidence Assessment
| Pages | 195-209 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JACPR-11-2016-0260 |
| Published date | 10 July 2017 |
| Date | 10 July 2017 |
| Author | Lauren Grace Moulds,Andrew Day |
Characteristics of adolescent violence
towards parents –a Rapid Evidence
Assessment
Lauren Grace Moulds and Andrew Day
Abstract
Purpose –Adolescent violence towards parents (AVTP) has damaging impacts on family relationships,
however, little is known about the characteristics of the families in which it occurs. The purpose of this paper is
to synthesize current knowledge of the AVTP characteristics to help to inform the development of more
effective community responses.
Design/methodology/approach –The paper opted for a Rapid Evidence Assessment taking an ecological
approach to organize current knowledge about the characteristics of both victims and perpetrators of AVTP.
It synthesized 20 empirical studies identified from a systemic review of published literature.
Findings –The assessment concludes that adolescents who perpetrate AVTP typically experience high
levels of comorbid mental health concerns, drug and alcohol use, anger difficulties and trauma. The victims
(parents) are characterized as having strained relationships with other family members and trauma profiles.
Practical implications –Policy and practice responses should be tailored to systemically address needs in
the identified areas. This review further illustrates the limitations of current knowledge, highlighting
inconsistencies in both definitions and findings, particularly related to key characteristics.
Originality/value –This paper is the first of its kind to systemically search this literature and only include the
most rigorously designed studies. It adds value to the developing field of AVTP by providing the scaffolding of
the characteristics of families who have been impacted.
Keywords Violence, Adolescents, Parents, Adolescent violence towards parents, Family violence,
Rapid Evidence Assessment
Paper type Literature review
Introduction
Adolescent violence towards parents (AVTP) is a relatively neglected subtype of family violence
that challenges common perceptions of family. Relatively little is known about its characteristics
and prevalence (Walsh and Krienert, 2007), probably as a result of ongoing confusion and
inconsistencies in definition and terminology, as well as a range of associated issues related to
measurement, and that AVTP is likely to be grossly under-reported. It has been suggested, for
example, that the lack of consensus that exists about AVTP perpetuates the isolation of parents
when AVTP occurs and confuses practitioner responses (Ulman and Straus, 2000). Moreover,
clinical and justice responses are, at present, not well informed by basic knowledge of the
characteristics of AVTP (Moulds et al., 2016). Accordingly, the aim of this study is to synthesize
current knowledge in a way that can help to inform the development of more effective community
responses to this issue.
To the best of our knowledge there have only been two previous reviews of this topic.
Kennair and Mellor’s (2007) review concluded that researchfindings in this area are equivocal,
although characteristics such as gender, age, attachment to parents, race/ethnicity,
socioeconomic status (SES), family stress and parenting style, have all been investigated.
They added that this creates a situation in which current treatment approaches lack
Received 7 November 2016
Revised 4 January 2017
16 January 2017
Accepted 16 January 2017
The views in this paper are those
of the authors and do not
necessarily represent those of the
agency.
Lauren Grace Moulds is a PhD
Candidate at the Department of
Psychology, Deakin University,
Burwood, Australia.
Andrew Day is the Head of the
Australian Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Research
Development, James Cook
University, Townsville,
Australia.
DOI 10.1108/JACPR-11-2016-0260 VOL. 9 NO. 3 2017, pp.195-209, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1759-6599
j
JOURNAL OF AGGRESSION, CONFLICTAND PEACE RESEARCH
j
PAGE195
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