Adolescent Dating Violence Perpetration, Emotion Dysregulation, and Parenting Styles

A conceptual model was tested, separately for male and female adolescents, in which adolescent dating violence (ADV) perpetration toward a romantic partner is affected by the memories of authoritarian paternal and maternal parenting styles through the mediation of adolescents' emotion dysregulation. The sample consisted of 622 Italian adolescents (35.5% males; 64.5% females) aged 13 to 21 years. Participants completed a questionnaire composed of three self-report scales: Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire measuring adolescents' memories of parenting styles; Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory, measuring multiple forms of abusive behavior that may occur between adolescent dating partners; and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Strategies Questionnaire, measuring emotion regulation. For both male and female adolescents, there were significant indirect effects of the memories of both maternal and paternal authoritarian styles on ADV perpetration that were mediated by the adolescents' impulse control difficulties.