Within-Incident Spillover of Family Aggression

描述（由申请人提供）：家庭内部的攻击行为普遍存在，对儿童有相当大的不利影响。考虑到有年幼子女的夫妇之间父母间攻击的发生率高得惊人，并且在有攻击性的夫妇之间父母对孩子攻击的可能性增加，本研究旨在研究父母间和父母对孩子攻击的共同发生。该项目的主要目的是确定事件内攻击溢出的相对频率和方向（即，攻击从一个家庭子系统直接转移到另一个家庭子系统）。这些信息将有助于理解目睹父母间攻击的儿童的不良后果是否部分是由于儿童在父母间攻击的同一直接背景下成为攻击的目标。此外，它将有助于确定共同发生的家庭攻击是否是由于一种形式的攻击直接或间接导致另一种形式的攻击，以及共同的病因因素。为了更好地理解攻击溢出的过程和背景，我们将研究事件内攻击溢出与事件特定预测变量之间的关系。此外，为了确定哪些家庭有遭受攻击溢出的风险，将研究纵向个人和家庭层面变量与攻击溢出之间的关系。这项工作将表明被评估为特征或行为倾向的构念是否在事件水平上起作用，以预测攻击和攻击溢出。该项目将利用现有社区样本125对夫妇的招聘和数据收集工作。当他们的第一个孩子三岁时，将通过对每个父母进行深入的季度电话访谈来测量家庭攻击的过程和背景。将使用不可识别的数据收集技术，以尽量减少漏报。该样本是为研究目标的成功而完美设计的，因为它包括高风险和低风险家庭，儿童早期是家庭压力增加的时期，PCA的发病率开始达到高峰，儿童最有可能参与IPA的发作。本研究将有助于更好地理解攻击溢出的背景、过程和机制，为解释大量的父母间和父母对孩子的攻击共现率提供一种手段。反过来，有关家庭攻击的过程和家庭动态的更有价值的理论将得到发展。该方法将提供一种评估家庭攻击的手段，比以前的研究更接近事件，同时保持可行性并减轻经常使用的家庭攻击措施的许多局限性。通过在事件水平上检查预测变量的功能，将获得更大的因果推理。此外，这项工作将为传统上不同的婚姻和亲子侵略领域提供概念、经验和方法上的整合。研究结果将促进有效预防和治疗模式的发展，以解决家庭冲突错综复杂的本质。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Aggression within the family is pervasive and has considerable adverse effects on children. Given surprisingly high rates of inter-parental aggression among couples with young children and the increased likelihood of parent-to-child aggression among aggressive couples, this study is designed to examine the co- occurrence of inter-parental and parent-to-child aggression. The primary aim of the project is to determine the relative frequency and direction of within-incident aggression spillover (i.e., the direct transfer of aggression from one family subsystem to another family subsystem). Such information will assist in understanding whether the adverse outcomes for children who witness inter-parental aggression may be partly due to children being the targets of aggression within the same immediate context of inter-parental aggression. In addition, it will help determine whether the co-occurrence of family aggression is due to one form of aggression either directly or indirectly leading to another form of aggression, as well as shared etiological factors. To better understand the process and context of aggression spillover, relations between within-incident aggression spillover and incident-specific predictor variables will be examined. Further, to identify which families are at risk for experiencing aggression spillover, relations between longitudinal individual- and family-level variables and aggression spillover will be examined. This work will indicate whether constructs assessed as traits or behavioral tendencies function at the level of the incident to predict aggression and aggression spillover. This project will leverage recruitment and data collection efforts from an existing community sample of 125 couples. When their first-born child is three years old, measurement of the processes and context of family aggression will be added through in-depth quarterly telephone interviews with each parent. Non-identifiable data collection techniques will be used to minimize under-reporting. This sample is perfectly designed for the success of the study aims as it includes high- and low-risk families, and early childhood is a time of increased family stress when rates of PCA begin to peak and children are most likely to be involved in episodes of IPA. This study will offer a better understanding of the context, processes, and mechanisms of aggression spillover, providing a means with which to interpret the substantial inter-parental and parent-to-child aggression co- occurrence rates. In turn, more valuable theories regarding the processes and family dynamics involved in family aggression will be developed. The methodology will provide a means of assessing family aggression that gets closer to the incident than prior studies, while maintaining feasibility and alleviating many limitations of often used measures family aggression. By examining the function of predictor variables at the level of the incident, greater causal inference will be gained. Further, this work will provide a conceptual, empirical, and methodological integration of the traditionally distinct fields of marital and parent-child aggression. Study results will foster the development of effective prevention and treatment models that address the intertwined nature of family conflict. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Exposure to inter-parental aggression and the experience of parent-to-child aggression frequently result in substantial adverse psychological and physical outcomes for children. To understand, and ultimately intervene in, the perpetration of family aggression, we must know whether one form of family aggression directly leads to the other form of family aggression within the same incident of aggression. Knowing the frequency with which such "spillover" occurs, as well as the contextual and longitudinal variables that predict spillover, will help us to refine existing prevention and intervention programs, resulting in substantial public health benefits for couples and their children.