Mother–Child Communication and Adolescent Violence Across Different Contexts

Méndez-Vergaray J.; Diaz S.S.; Asto J.L.V.; Flores H.O.D.; Tejedo N.E.R.; Arenas R.D. · Revista Cubana de Investigaciones Biomedicas (2025)

Resumen

Objective: To analyze the relationship between mother-child communication and adolescent violence in Peruvian youth from areas with varying levels of social violence. Methods: A quantitative, correlational-explanatory study was conducted with a purposive sample of 352 adolescents aged 13 to 15, from three public schools in Lima, Peru, located in high-violence (n=112), medium-violence (n=121), and low-violence (n=119) zones. The Mother-Adolescent Communication Scale and the AQ Violence Questionnaire were used. Data were analyzed using ordinal logistic regression with SPSS-25. Results: The quality of mother-child communication explained 27.4 % of the variance in overall violence, 21.5 % in physical violence, 23.2 % in verbal violence, 24.2 % in anger, and 21.6 % in hostility (p <.05). Higher levels of adolescent violence were observed in those reporting poor maternal communication, regardless of their social context; however, the context showed a notable moderating effect. Conclusions: Higher-quality mother-child communication was associated with lower levels of violent behavior in adolescents. These findings suggest that strengthening family communication, particularly in high-violence environments, may help reduce the expression of aggression among adolescents.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería; Universidad Nacional del Callao; Universidad César Vallejo; Universidad Nacional de Educación Enrique Guzmán y Valle