Family violence and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms in Chinese children: The role of parental alienation and child emotion regulation

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is one of the most common developmental disorders during childhood. The current study examined the mediating role of parental alienation and the moderating role of child Emotion Regulation that had been divided into Lability/Negativity and Emotion Regulation when considering the relation between family violence and ODD symptoms. A sample of 409 children (M-age= 9.36,SD= 1.55) and their parent was recruited from 14 primary schools in China. Parents reported on experiences of family violence, Emotion Regulation and ODD symptoms and children reported on experiences of parental alienation. A mediation path from family violence to ODD symptoms via parental alienation was significant, suggesting that family violence was related to parental alienation, which was further associated with ODD symptoms. The moderation analysis showed family violence interacted with Lability/Negativity, such that higher level of family violence was associated with higher levels of ODD symptoms among children with Lability/Negativity. These findings underscore the necessity of adopting a multilevel perspective in understanding the development of ODD symptoms and the importance of paying more attention to family violence in Chinese family.