Parental abuse by children

Abuse of parents by their children, also known as child-to-parent violence (CPV), is a form of domestic violence where parents receive maltreatment from their child or children. It is one of the most under-reported and under-researched subject areas in the field of psychology. Parents are quite often subject to levels of childhood aggression in excess of normal childhood aggressive outbursts, typically in the form of verbal or physical abuse. Parent abuse has been defined by Cottrell (2001, p. 3) as "any harmful act of a teenage child intended to gain power and control over a parent. The abuse can be physical, psychological, or financial". Though this type of abuse often takes place during the teen years (often from 12 to 17), it can happen earlier than that, with some reports showing cases of children younger than 10 years old. For example, a case of a daughter providing housing for her elderly parents. The daughter often insults her parents, controls what they do or where they go, and expects them to do whatever she says because she is the owner of the house. A Sheriff Deputy was sent to investigate, but the parents were very positive about living with her so the report by the Social Workers was dismissed . The effects of experiencing abuse from one's child can be profound. In the short term, ongoing parent abuse has been found to impact a parent's and other family members’ physical and psychological health, with specific negative emotions such as fear, shame, guilt and despair commonly reported (Cottrell & Monk, 2004). The causes are yet to be thoroughly researched, but three main variables have been suggested as possible contributors to child to parent abuse: the presence of a mental health condition; attachment difficulties (which might or might not be related to a mental health issue) and/or; previous experiences of abuse. A child may be abusive because they have suffered some form of abuse themselves, although this may not always be the case. Parent abuse may derive not only from individualized issues, but also from structural societal and cultural factors.