Parent Victims of Youth-to-Parent Abuse: Psychological and Family Functioning

PurposeThe present research aimed to analyze the psychological and clinical profiles of parent victims of youth-to-parent abuse (YPA), as well as their perception of family functioning. A further objective was to study which predictors related to parent psychological and family functioning were the most useful for identifying YPA cases. A secondary objective was to explore differences between mothers and fathers with respect to the variables studied.MethodA sample group of parents was collected from a center for family YPA therapy (n = 143; 90 mothers and 53 fathers), and a similar group from the community population (NYPA) (n = 137; 75 mothers and 62 fathers), with a total of 165 mothers and 115 fathers.ResultsOutcomes regarding the psychological functioning of the YPA group parents indicated poor emotional regulation and anxious-depressive symptoms. Family functioning in the YPA group was characterized by low cohesion and adaptability, but high criticism. According to ROC curve analyses, parental emotional intelligence and family cohesion were the predictors with the highest area under the ROC curve for non-abused condition (AUC = 0.852), with both variables accurately differentiating 85.2% of parents from NYPA and YPA samples.ConclusionAddressing YPA requires individual psychological treatment for victimized parents, as well as family therapy to improve family functioning.