Clarifying the Association Between Mother–Father Relationship Aggression and Parenting
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12354 |
| Author | Wendi L. Johnson,Mallory D. Minter,Kei Nomaguchi,Lindsey Aldrich |
| Published date | 01 February 2017 |
| Date | 01 February 2017 |
K N Bowling Green State University
W L. J Oakland University∗
M D. M L A Bowling Green State University∗∗
Clarifying the Association Between Mother–Father
Relationship Aggression and Parenting
Although much research examines the associ-
ation between fathers’ relationship aggression
and mothers’ parenting, little attention is given
to mothers’ aggression, mutual aggression, or
fathers’ parenting. Using a sample of core-
siding couples from the Fragile Families and
Child Wellbeing Study (N=973), the authors
examine the association between mothers’ and
fathers’ relationship aggression, measured
as frequency and perpetration–victimization
types (mutual, mother only, father only), and
mothers’ and fathers’ parenting. Fixed effects
regression models show that fathers’ aggres-
sion is positively related to mothers’ parenting
stress, whereas father-only or mother-only
aggression is related to fathers’ stress. For both
parents, aggression perpetration is negatively
related to their own engagement with children.
Mother-only aggression is negatively related
to mothers’ spanking and positively related
to fathers’ spanking. These ndings suggest
the importance of examining both parents’
aggression and perpetrators’ as well as victims’
Department of Sociology, 213 WilliamsHall, Bowling
Green State University,Bowling Green OH 43403
(knomagu@bgsu.edu).
∗Department of Sociology, Anthropology,Social Work, and
Criminal Justice, 2200 Squirrel Rd., 529 VarnerHall,
Oakland University,Rochester, MI 48309.
∗∗Department of Sociology, 213 Williams Hall, Bowling
Green State University,Bowling Green OH 43403.
This article was edited by Kelly Raley.
[Correction added after online publication on September
22, 2016: Order of authors corrected.]
Key Words: xed effects models, gender, interparental
conict, intimate partner abuse, parenting,stress.
parenting to better understand the link between
relationship aggression and parenting.
Much research has shown that there is an associ-
ation between mother–father relationship quality
and parenting (Carlson, Pilkauskas, McLanahan,
& Brooks-Gunn, 2011; Deater-Deckard, 2004;
Erel & Burman, 1995; Krishnakumar & Buehler,
2000). In particular, mother–father relationship
aggression—that is, mothers’ and fathers’ hos-
tile and controlling behavior toward each other,
verbal aggression, physical aggression, or both
(Cui, Durtschi, Donnellan, Lorenz, & Con-
ger, 2010; Schumacher & Leonard, 2005)—is
related to more parenting stress, dened as gen-
eral feelings of difculty in the parenting role
(Levendosky, Leahy, Bogat, Davidson, & von
Eye, 2006; Owen, Thompson, & Kaslow, 2006;
Renner, 2009; Taylor, Lee, Guterman, & Rice,
2010), and more ineffective parenting practices,
such as less engagement with children, more
lax control, and greater harshness toward chil-
dren (Edleson, 1999; Holden & Ritchie, 1991;
Ritchie & Holden, 1998; Taylor,Guterman, Lee,
& Rathouz, 2009).
Despite a large volume of studies examining
the association between relationship aggres-
sion and parenting, three limitations cloud
the understanding of this association. First,
inadequate attention has been paid to possible
selection effects. That is, characteristics that
select parents into relationship aggression—for
example, mothers’ and fathers’ sociodemo-
graphic or personality characteristics—can also
shape parenting stress and practices. Without
eliminating such unobserved characteristics that
are related to both relationship aggression and
parenting stress and practices, prior research
Journal of Marriage and Family 79 (February 2017): 161–178 161
DOI:10.1111/jomf.12354
162 Journal of Marriage and Family
might have overestimated the degree to which
mother–father relationship aggression per se is
related to parenting stress and practices. Sec-
ond, recent studies largely focused on fathers’
aggression and its consequences for mothers’
parenting stress and practices (e.g., Gustafs-
son & Cox, 2012). This focus on the male
perpetration–female victimization pattern over-
looks the ndings from survey-based studies that
women are as likely as men to be perpetrators
of relationship aggression (Johnson, Giordano,
Manning, & Longmore, 2015) and that close to
half of relationship aggression involves mutual
aggression where both partners are perpetrators
(Renner & Whitney, 2010). A third related lim-
itation is that gender differences in these asso-
ciations remain unclear. Because the dynamics
in relationships among different-sex couples
continue to be gendered (Anderson, 2010; Eng-
land, 2010), it is possible that consequences of
relationship aggression for parenting stress and
practices may differ for women and men.
In this article, we address these limitations
using longitudinal data of married or cohabit-
ing mothers and fathers from Waves 3 and 4
in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing
Study (FFCWS). To eliminate the inuences of
unobserved between-person selection factors,
we used xed effects models, which control
for unmeasured time-invariant characteristics
and estimate within-person differences (Allison,
2009). We examined the associations between
mothers’ and fathers’ frequency of relation-
ship aggression and three aspects of parenting
of mothers and fathers, including parenting
stress, frequency of engagement with children,
and frequency of spanking. In addition, we
assessed perpetration–victimization type—
mutual, mother-only aggression, father-only
aggression, and no aggression—to better under-
stand whose aggression matters for whose
parenting. The ndings of the present analysis
contribute to the literature by investigating
men’s and women’s aggression, as well as
mutual aggression, and by examining their links
to parenting stress and practices.
P R
Family systems theory (Cox & Paley, 1997)
posits that mother–father relationships and
parent–child relationships are interdependent.
Using this broader framework, family scholars
have examined the link between mother–father
relationship aggression and parenting stress
and practices (Cummings & Watson O’Reilly,
1997; Erel & Burman, 1995; Krishnakumar &
Buehler, 2000). Recently, research has focused
specically on intimate partner violence (IPV)
and its consequences for victims’ parenting
stress and practices (e.g., Postmus, Huang, &
Mathisen-Stylianous, 2012; Taylor, Guterman,
Lee, & Rathouz, 2009). Both lines of research
have conceptualized the association into two
contrasting hypotheses. The rst perspective
is the spillover perspective, which posits that
higher levels of relationship aggression lead
to more parenting stress and poorer parenting
practices (Erel & Burman, 1995). Negativity,
hostility, or frustration in the mother–father
relationship may be carried over into mothers’
and fathers’ mood and interactions with their
children (Holden & Ritchie, 1991; Murray,
Bair-Merritt, Roche, & Cheng, 2012; Palazzolo,
Roberto, & Babin, 2010; Renner, 2009; Taylor
et al., 2010). The second perspective is the
compensatory perspective, which contends that
mother–father relationship aggression could
result in less parenting stress and better parent-
ing practices such as more engagement and less
harshness. Parents whose intimate partnerships
are hostile and antagonistic may try to invest
more in their relationships with children to
obtain affection and warmth (Brody, Pillegrini,
& Sigel, 1986).
Empirical studies generally have supported
the spillover perspective, showing a positive
association between relationship aggression and
parenting stress or ineffective parenting (for
reviews and meta-analyses, see Erel & Burman,
1995; Krishnakumar & Buehler, 2000). Still,
a few studies found support for the compen-
satory perspective. Using a small sample of
racially diverse mothers with preschool chil-
dren, Levendosky, Huth-Bocks, Shapiro, and
Semel (2003) found that IPV victimization was
positively related to mothers’ warm, responsive
parenting practices. DeVoe and Smith’s (2002)
qualitative study of mothers who had been in an
abusive relationship reported that some mothers
consciously avoid using physical punishment to
teach their children not to use physical force.
Furthermore, other studies showed that the link
may depend on the aspect of parenting. Lev-
endosky and Graham-Bermann (2000) found
that IPV victimization was negatively related to
mothers’ warmth toward children, but was not
related to their discipline of their children.
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