Developmental Antecedents of Proactive and Reactive Rebelliousness: The Role of Parenting Style, Childhood Adversity, and Attachment

Adolescence is a time of developmental transition that for one in five young people is characterised by feelings of oppositionality, rebellion, and negativism. Despite the prevalent experience of teen turbulence and despite its significance within the phenomenological framework provided by reversal theory (RT), the childhood antecedents of rebelliousness in adolescence and adulthood have not been given extensive empirical attention within RT, although such work has been carried out using other constructs and theories. We examined recalled parenting style, childhood adversity, and attachment style in adulthood as correlates of proactive and reactive rebelliousness in a sample of 80 participants, aged 18 to 50 years. Each participant responded to a questionnaire package containing the revised Adult Attachment Scale, the Parental Bonding Instrument, the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire, and the Negativism Dominance Scale. We found that paternal abusive parenting, followed by paternal parenting style, paternal neglect, and paternal antipathy were independently predictive of scores on proactive rebelliousness, the sensation-seeking form. Maternal and paternal indifferent parenting styles each were found to equivalently and independently predict scores on reactive rebelliousness, the interpersonal disaffection form. The results of this study suggest these two forms of rebelliousness may have distinctly different antecedents. A longitudinal study is needed to examine the potentially causal pathways that are suggested by the results of this cross-sectional research. We consider reversal theory explanations of these results and contrast them with complementary theoretical frameworks.

Posttraumatische Störungen bei Patienten mit Erkrankungen aus dem schizophrenen Formenkreis

Background The findings of international studies suggest high rates of interpersonal violence and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Only few studies, however, have so far been conducted in the German-speaking countries. Objectives The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence of lifetime experiences of interpersonal violence and comorbid PTSD among inpatients in a German university hospital. Method In N = 145 consecutively admitted patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (67 % male) the structured trauma interview (STI) was used to assess experiences of interpersonal violence and the structured clinical interview for DSM-IV (SCID) to assess comorbid PTSD. Results Sexual violence under the age of 16 years was reported by 17 % of the patients (women 27 %, men 12 %). Approximately one third (32 %) reported physical violence by parental figures (women 38 %, men 29 %). At least one form of early violence (sexual or physical) was reported by half of the women (48 %) and one third of the men (34 %). Negative sexual experiences later in life were reported by 17 %, physical violence by 38 % and at least one of these forms by 48 % of the patients. In total two thirds of all patients (66 %) reported experiences of violence during their lifetime. The prevalence of acute PTSD was 12 %. Another 9 % of patients had a subsyndromal PTSD. Conclusion The present study confirmed the high rates of experiences of interpersonal violence and comorbid PTSD in a German sample of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Violence and it’s consequences should therefore be routinely assessed and the full spectrum of trauma-specific therapies should be integrated into the treatment of this group of patients.

Beyond "Witnessing": Childrens Experiences of Coercive Control in Domestic Violence and Abuse

Children’s experiences and voices are underrepresented in academic literature and professional practice around domestic violence and abuse. The project “Understanding Agency and Resistance Strategies” (UNARS) addresses this absence, through direct engagement with children. We present an analysis from interviews with 21 children in the United Kingdom (12 girls and 9 boys, aged 8-18 years), about their experiences of domestic violence and abuse, and their responses to this violence. These interviews were analyzed using interpretive interactionism. Three themes from this analysis are presented: (a) “Children’s experiences of abusive control,” which explores children’s awareness of controlling behavior by the adult perpetrator, their experience of that control, and its impact on them; (b) “Constraint,” which explores how children experience the constraint associated with coercive control in situations of domestic violence; and (c) “Children as agents,” which explores children’s strategies for managing controlling behavior in their home and in family relationships. The article argues that, in situations where violence and abuse occur between adult intimate partners, children are significantly affected, and can be reasonably described as victims of abusive control. Recognizing children as direct victims of domestic violence and abuse would produce significant changes in the way professionals respond to them, by (a) recognizing children’s experience of the impact of domestic violence and abuse; (b) recognizing children’s agency, undermining the perception of them as passive “witnesses” or “collateral damage” in adult abusive encounters; and (c) strengthening professional responses to them as direct victims, not as passive witnesses to violence.