Within-Incident Spillover of Family Aggression

描述(由申请人提供)：家庭内的攻击性很普遍，对儿童有相当大的不利影响。鉴于父母间攻击性在有年幼孩子的夫妇中出人意料地高，以及攻击性夫妇中父母对孩子攻击的可能性增加，这项研究旨在研究父母间攻击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(即攻击从一个家庭分系统直接转移到另一个家庭分系统)。这些信息将有助于了解亲眼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，它将有助于确定家庭攻击的共同发生是否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。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和事件特定预测变量之间的关系。此外，为了确定哪些家庭有经历攻击溢出的风险，我们将研究纵向的个人和家庭层面的变量与攻击溢出之间的关系。这项工作将表明，被评估为特质或行为倾向的结构是否在事件水平上起到预测攻击和攻击溢出的作用。该项目将利用现有社区样本125对夫妇的招募和数据收集工作。当他们的第一个孩子三岁时，将通过每一位父母每季度深入的电话采访，增加对家庭攻击性过程和背景的测量。将使用不可识别的数据收集技术，以尽量减少漏报。这个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，而幼儿期是家庭压力增加的时期，PCA的发生率开始达到峰值，儿童最有可能参与IPA的发作。这项研究将更好地理解攻击溢出的背景、过程和机制，为解释父母之间和父母对孩子之间攻击行为的显著共发率提供了一种手段。反过来，关于家庭攻击的过程和家庭动态的更有价值的理论将被开发出来。该方法将提供一种评估家庭侵犯的方法，比以前的研究更接近事件，同时保持可行性并缓解经常使用的家庭攻击措施的许多局限性。通过考察预测变量在事件水平上的作用，将获得更大的因果推理。此外，这项工作将提供传统上不同的婚姻和亲子攻击领域的概念性、经验性和方法性的整合。研究结果将促进制定有效的预防和治疗模式，解决家庭冲突的相互交织的性质。

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.