Peer-reviewed article
Youth Impulsivity as a Moderator in the Relationship Between Parental Punitive Discipline and Child-to-Parent Violence.
Cano-Lozano MC, Contreras L, Navas-Martínez MJ ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how youth impulsivity affects the relationship between parental punitive discipline and violence directed toward parents. Researchers surveyed 1,041 young adults aged 18-25 living with their parents about their experiences of violence, parenting practices, and impulsivity levels. The study found that both punitive parenting and impulsivity were linked to child-to-parent violence, and that impulsivity strengthened the effect of harsh maternal discipline on this violence.
Key points
- Parental punitive discipline and youth impulsivity were both positively associated with violence toward both fathers and mothers
- Impulsivity moderated the relationship between punitive maternal discipline and child-to-parent violence
- The moderating effect of impulsivity was stronger at higher levels of impulsivity
- Individual traits and parental practices interact in understanding child-to-parent violence during emerging adulthood
- Sample comprised 1,041 young adults (51.1% women, 48.9% men) aged 18-25 years living with parents
Limitations
The study does not identify the country context or provide detail on causality—it shows associations and moderation effects but cannot establish whether punitive discipline causes violence or whether impulsive youth elicit harsher parenting. The cross-sectional design prevents determination of temporal relationships.
Abstract
While recent studies have begun to investigate the interaction between individual characteristics and parenting practices in the development of child-to-parent violence, empirical evidence remains limited, particularly among young adults. This study examines the role of youth impulsivity as a moderator of the relationship between parental punitive discipline and child-to-parent violence. The sample consisted of 1041 young adults (51.1% women, 48.9% men), aged between 18 and 25 years (Mage = 21.41, SD = 1.94), who lived with their parents. Participants completed the Child-to-Parent Violence Questionnaire, the Inventory of Parental Discipline Methods, and the Barratt Impulsivity Scale. Results indicated that parental punitive discipline and impulsivity were positively associated with violence toward both fathers and mothers. Impulsivity moderated only the relationship between punitive maternal discipline and child-to-parent violence (toward both the father and the mother). Specifically, this effect was stronger at higher levels of impulsivity. These findings highlight the importance of considering both individual traits and parental practices, as well as their interaction, in understanding child-to-parent violence during emerging adulthood. They also have important theoretical and practical implications for prevention and intervention.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- The study is observational and does not test an intervention; it examines the relationship between parental punitive discipline and child-to-parent violence as moderated by youth impulsivity
- Population
- 1,041 young adults aged 18-25 years living with parents (51.1% women, 48.9% men)
Key finding
Parental punitive discipline and impulsivity were positively associated with violence toward both fathers and mothers
MC et al. · Europe PMC · 6 Jun 2026