“My [Search Strategies] Keep Missing You”: A Scoping Review to Map Child-to-Parent Violence in Childhood Aggression Literature

Abstract

Child-to-parent violence is often referred to as one of the most ‘under-researched’ forms of family violence. However, it is closely associated with one of the most widely researched areas of research globally: childhood aggression. How child-instigated aggression can harm parents is widely referred to, but different framings, definitions, and conceptualisations are used which creates problems when attempting to identify the broader literature which may be relevant to child-to-parent violence researchers. Methods: Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews, 55 papers were reviewed from EBSCO, PubMed, SCOPUS, and Web of Science to explore how location, field of the researcher, and terminology can impact how researchers conceptualise and frame this form of harm. Results: Three themes were identified (1) child-to-parent violence is a behavioural indicator of childhood distress or developmental needs, (2) children are ‘perpetrators’ of deviant behaviour, and (3) the parents are ‘victims’ of child-to-parent violence. Conclusions: Children and parents are both harmed by child-to-parent violence. It is important that future researchers and practitioners recognise the bi-directionality of the parent-child relationship, and not be complicit in hiding the harms caused by child-to-parent violence by subsuming it under the broader childhood aggression literature.