Citation

Rea JG, Rossman BBR. J. Emot. Abuse 2005; 5(1): 1-28.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1300/J135v05n01_01

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In this longitudinal study of children exposed to interparental aggression (IPA) and violence, we examined whether maternal parenting style contributed to children's functioning over the course of one year (data were collected over three time points). Participants were mothers and children from the community and battered women's shelters. Battered mothers endorsed higher levels of Permissive parenting than did non-battered mothers. Contrary to predictions, shelter mothers endorsed greater Authoritative parenting than did battered community mothers, and battered community mothers showed a trend toward greater Authoritarian parenting. After controlling for critical factors, parenting style explained significant variance in child functioning at Time 3. In particular, maternal use of Verbal Hostility appeared to exacerbate internalizing and externalizing problems over time, and maternal Permissiveness contributed to poorer school performance. Authoritative parenting appeared to promote child adjustment in the face of domestic violence and life adversity. Results have implications for parenting interventions designed for battered women and their children.