Parenting and Family: What's Intergenerational Transmission

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Introduction
There are many ways to explain the way a child is the way they are and why they act the way they do. One explanation is through intergenerational transmission. Intergenerational transmission is a process that leads to perseverance of one’s culture, can be selective, and is a bidirectional process (from parent to child or child to parent) (Scabini & Marta, 2006; Schonpflug, 2001). There are many different characteristics and/or temperaments that can be intergenerationally transmitted, such as values, parenting behaviors, gender, and much more. Another trait that can be intergenerationally transmitted, from parent to child, is externalizing problem behaviors. An externalizing problem behavior “refers to a grouping of behavior problems that are manifested in children’s outward behavior and reflect the child negatively acting on the external environment” (Liu, 2004, p. 94). This literature review will examine the intergenerational transmission of externalizing problem behaviors. The vast research on the intergenerational transmission of externalizing problem behaviors, that will be discussed, will be between two generations and three generations. The externalizing problem behaviors that will be examined are antisocial, conduct, and aggression, and each of these will be defined using Merriam-Webster.com.
Literature Review
Overview
Parenting and Family. There are several factors that need to be examined when discussing the intergenerational transmission of externalizing problem behaviors. Considering that the family plays a major role in the socialization of children, the first factor that needs to be examined is the role that parenting and family play in the intergenerational transmission (Kalmuss, 1984). Th...

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...urnal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 32(2), 174-185. doi: 10.1177/0022022101032002005

Silberg, J. L., Maes, H., & Eaves, L. J. (2012). Unraveling the effect of genes and environment in the transmission of parental antisocial behavior to children's conduct disturbance, depression and hyperactivity. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 53(6), 668-677. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02494.x

Smith, C. A., & Farrington, D. P. (2004). Continuities in antisocial behavior and parenting across three generations. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45(2), 230-247. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00216.x
Thornberry, T.P., Freeman-Gallant, A., Lizotte, A.J., Krohn, M.D., & Smith, C.A. (2003). Linked lives: The intergenerational transmission of antisocial behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 31(2), 171–184. doi: 0091-0627/03/0400-0171/0

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