Examining the protective effects of caregiver-child closeness on the association between parenting behaviors and youth aggression

Abstract

Abstract Youth aggression is a significant predictor of public health issues such as bullying, intimate partner violence, and homicide. This study investigates how caregiver-child closeness mitigates the association between parenting practices and youth aggression, using data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS). We first identified distinct dimensions of youth aggression and examined whether caregiver-child closeness could buffer the link between various parenting behaviors and different types of youth aggression. Two dimensions of youth aggression emerged in our dataset: emotional aggression and physical violence. The results show that non-violent discipline is positively associated with both types of aggression, but the strength of this association varies on the level of parental closeness. Specifically, when closeness is low, the links between non-violent discipline and both forms of aggression are stronger, whereas these associations are weaker when closeness is high. Notably, parental closeness did not significantly moderate the effects of psychological aggression, physical assault, or neglect. These findings suggest that while strengthening parent–child closeness may buffer the risks associated with non-violent discipline, it may be less effective in mitigating the impact of harsher parenting behaviors highlighting the need for tailored interventions based on specific parenting contexts.