Abstract:
The objective of this study was to explore the existence and, if so, the nature
of the association between parental use of psychological aggression and
psychological maladjustment in a 12-year-old Sri Lankan school population.
A stratified random sampling technique was used to select 1,226 children
from Colombo district schools. Three instruments, validated in the Sri
Lankan context, were used to collect data on children’s experience of
psychological aggression, its psychological outcomes, and psychosocial
correlates. The annual prevalence of psychological aggression reported by
the study sample was 75%. A predictive model for psychological outcomes
was examined. The experience of psychological aggression was shown to
be moderately, but directly and significantly, associated with psychological
maladjustment in children. This association was mediated by non–parentto-
child violence—the child’s knowledge of violence between the parents,
experience of teacher violence, exposure to peer violence, and violence
in the child’s community. However, the child’s report of a nurturant
parent–child relationship did not impact on the association between
psychological aggression and psychological maladjustment. The study also
indicated that greater the child’s experience of non–parent-to-child violence,
the greater is his/her own level of hostility and aggression. These findings
show that although many Sri Lankan parents use psychological aggression it
has negative consequences for their children.
