Exposure to domestic violence in early childhood is associated with adverse adolescent outcomes, yet research has predominantly focused on maternal victimisation, neglecting paternal victimisation and bidirectional violence. Using data from the Millennium Cohort Study involving a sample of 12,092 families, this study examines the differential association of maternal, paternal, and bidirectional domestic violence with adolescent mental health, conduct, substance use, physical health, and academic performance at age 17. Bidirectional violence exhibited the strongest negative associations, followed by violence against the mother, while violence against the father generally had the lowest but still significantly associated with detrimental adolescent outcomes. Associations with domestic violence were seen for all outcome domains except physical health and academic performance. We further explore how domestic violence exposure disrupts early family environments, linking it to poorer parent-child relationships, increased parental substance use, and worsened parental mental health. Results of our study underscore the need for early interventions targeting mutual aggression and holistic family-centred approaches to domestic violence screening. Addressing domestic violence across both maternal and paternal experiences is essential to improving adolescent functioning across a range of important developmental domains.
With the rising number of maltreatment recurrence episodes in recent years and cultural differences in understanding child maltreatment across countries, the current study aims to comprehensively analyze the existing literature related to child maltreatment recurrence in Korea, including the definition, type of studies, prevalence, and risk/protective factors. The present review systematically searched for records until February 29, 2024, which yielded a total of 16 articles. The results showed that the definitions frequently included the keywords, such as “same victim child,” “same perpetrator,” “family/relatives as the perpetrator,” and “victim child aged below 17 or 18.” While the overall prevalence of child maltreatment re-report was 10.83%, the re-substantiation or recurrence rate was 9.00%. Additionally, maltreatment recurrence rate was the highest after more than 2 years of the first maltreatment report (10.51%). Some of the risk and protective factors included the physical abuse allegation, parental alcohol abuse, intimate partner violence, removal of children, out-of-home placement, longer provision of child welfare services, and follow-up monitoring service. Based on these findings, the present review suggests updating the definition of maltreatment recurrence to be more child-centered, increasing monthly stipends to secure more foster homes, and providing evidence-based post-permanency services.
This systematic review identifies, summarises, and critically evaluates quantitative studies examining the relationship between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) victimisation and physical, sexual, and psychological intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration in adult males. A database search was conducted to identify eligible studies. A synthesis and appraisal of methodological quality of the primary studies was conducted. Fifteen studies were reviewed, comprising of a total of 48,699 men. Despite methodological and statistical heterogeneity, this review indicates an association between CSA victimisation and all three (i.e., physical, sexual and psychological) domains of IPV perpetration in adult males. Overall, study quality was assessed as ‘fair’. The relationship between CSA victimisation and IPV in adulthood in males requires further exploration. Research in this area has thus far relied predominantly on self-reported IPV perpetration within community-based, non-forensic samples. Future studies would benefit from including objective assessments of IPV and from examining the CSA-IPV relationship in offender samples. Further research examining the pathways from CSA to IPV is needed.
This study examined how distinct dimensions of psychopathy shape behavioral, emotional, and physiological responses to social exclusion, a paradigm known to elicit reactive aggression. Male and female participants from the community were randomized with an unequal 3:1 allocation to the exclusion (n = 121) and inclusion condition (n = 38) in a computerized Cyberball task while their skin conductance and heart rate were recorded. They then completed tasks to assess their retaliatory behavior. Divergent effects emerged across psychopathy dimensions. Higher Fearless Dominance was associated with reduced retaliatory aggression and faster heart rate habituation, suggesting emotional resilience and efficient physiological regulation. In contrast, higher Self-Centered Impulsivity was associated with heightened negative affect and increased retaliatory behavior, with negative affect mediating the psychopathy–retaliation link. Finally, Coldheartedness was linked to reduced prosocial allocation, indicating diminished affiliative motivation. These findings support a dual-mechanism framework in which interpersonal–affective traits confer emotional stability and low reactivity, whereas impulsive–antisocial traits promote affective dysregulation and reactive aggression. Results highlight the multidimensional nature of psychopathy and underscore the importance of affective reactivity as a proximal mechanism driving aggression. By integrating behavioral, affective, and psychophysiological measures, this study advances understanding of psychopathy's heterogeneous pathways to aggression and informs development of more precise, mechanism-based interventions.
Although differences in EEG activity have been documented in externalizing individuals compared to controls, much less is known about whether EEG abnormalities are observed in relation to psychopathy. This study tests the hypothesis that among children diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, those who have more psychopathic-like traits differ from those with fewer psychopathic-like traits in their electrocortical activity by having excessive slow-wave EEG and more right-lateralized alpha power. Analyses were performed on a clinical sample of children aged 7 to 16 years who were assessed at five time points over one year using the Antisocial Process Screening Device and who had EEG recordings at rest (n = 119) and during a stress task at baseline (n = 126). Children with externalizing behavior and higher psychopathy scores during a 12-month window exhibited increased theta activity across multiple brain regions during rest and stress compared to externalizing children with fewer psychopathic-like traits. Greater delta power at rest and stress was also seen in the high psychopathy group, particularly in the parietal and occipital areas. When EEG was measured during stress, externalizing children with more psychopathic-like traits showed greater relative left frontal cortical activation compared to those with fewer psychopathic-like traits. These findings are discussed in the context of the stimulation-seeking theory, the cortical immaturity hypothesis, approach-related behavior, and default mode network abnormalities.
