A study published in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology found that the method of control used by parents was significantly related to a childs aggressive behaviour.

Sofie Kuppens and her colleagues from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, studied the amount of physical aggression and relational aggression (the purposeful manipulation or damage to relationships) used by 600 children aged between 8 and 10 and compared this to parents use of physical punishment and psychological control.

Sofie Kuppens said “As well as using discipline or rewards to control or manage a childs behaviour, some parents also use psychological control which may include emotional manipulation, criticism or excessive personal control.

“As children learn and adopt behaviour from their parents, we wanted to see whether children whose parents use psychological control strategies are more likely to use relational aggression the purposeful manipulation or damage to relationships, through silent treatment, social exclusion, or spreading of malicious rumours for example.”

Parents were asked to assess their own and their partners level of physical punishment and psychological controlling behaviour questions such as If my child hurts my feelings I dont speak to him/her until s/he pleases me again. Each childs physically and relationally aggressive behaviour was then assessed by parents, school teachers and class mates. It was found that the parents use of physical punishment was significantly linked to the childrens level of physical aggression both at home and at school. Parental psychological control was also significantly linked to the childrens use of relational aggression, although this was only significant at home. Results also suggested that a childs use of relational aggression is dependent on the social situation.

Sofie Kuppens said “This study lends further support to research that has found that a childs behaviour often parallels their parents. In this case, a childs use of physical or psychological aggression was linked to the methods of control that their parents used.