Relationship Between Child-to-Parent Violence and Parenting Skills in a Sample of Ecuadorian Families

Child-to-parent violence (CPV) is a violent, repeated, and intentional behavior observed in different cultures and family contexts. It is a complex and multifactor phenomenon related to personal and family variables. In view of the lack of research on this topic in Ecuador, the present study was focused on analyzing the presence of CPV in Ecuadorian families and explored the relationship of these behaviors with different parental skills. A total of 270 parents (91.5% mothers) of at-risk zones of the Ecuadorian Coast participated in the study. The participants completed the Child-to-Parent Aggression Questionnaire, the Parental Alliance Inventory, the Parenting Scale and the Parental Locus of Control. The results showed a strong presence of CPV behaviors. A total of 47.41% of the families presented severe levels of CPV and high comorbidity among the different types of CPV. The regression analyses revealed the predictive power of permissive and hostile practices for psychological CPV and of hostile practices for physical CPV. The locus of control was also observed to influence the appearance of CPV, whereas parental alliance did not present a significant linear relationship. In view of the severity of the identified CPV problem, it is necessary for Ecuador to develop a legislative framework that promotes a network of preventive and specialized services to address this phenomenon. The prevention of the escalating growth of CPV behaviors must be focused on the promotion of parenting skills that facilitate the positive exercise of parenting in situations of family conflict.