Violence Against Parents by Adult Children: A Systematic Literature Review of Empirical Studies

Abstract

Violence against parents by adult children is the abuse of physical, psychological, social, or economic power committed by a grown-up child against his/her parent or foster parent with the intention of achieving a specific goal such as control, subordination, economic gains, or internal satisfaction. It encompasses physical, psychological, sexual, and financial violence, neglect, and property crime. This paper aims to systematically review the literature on violence against parents by adult children. With the use of a range of keywords, the databases Web of Science, SAGE, SpringerLink, Taylor and Francis online, PubMed, EBSCOhost, JSTOR, ProQuest Ebook Central, PsycInfo, Routledge, and Science Direct were reviewed according to the PRISMA Statement. A review of the literature by key authors and contributions using the snowball method followed. The inclusion criteria were empirical journal papers and books published in English between 1990 and 2023 that address violence against parents by adult children. Exclusion criteria included reviews, commentaries, abstracts, and any publications that address the subject topic in a language other than English. The searches returned 39 relevant contributions. Four common themes emerged across the field: the prevalence and characteristics of violence against parents by adult children, parents’ responses and experiences of violence by adult children, social perceptions of (older) parent abuse, and consequences and prevention of violence against parents by adult children. Findings of the literature review show that violence against parents is an under-researched phenomenon and points to the need for further research, including the prevention, detection, consequences, and treatment of such violence.