Child-to-parent physical aggression is a relevant problem. However, in contrast to the extensive literature on other forms of family violence, there are very few studies on this topic.

To study the profile of adolescents who are physically aggressive toward their parents.

Identify the risk factors of child-to-parent aggression.

Two samples participated in the study. A sample of 1427 adolescents (51.02% girls) from 10 schools, and a sample from an specialized center for adolescents who commit aggression against their parents. They completed personal and contextual measures (child-to-parent aggression, exposure to violence, discipline by parents, delinquent behavior, substance abuse, justification of violence, narcissism, self-esteem, depression, and social support).

The results indicated that 103 adolescents (7.2%) of the community sample had perpetrated some physical aggressive acts toward their parents. Aggressive adolescents scored higher than the rest on delinquent behavior, depression, substance use, impulsivity, justification of violence and grandiosity beliefs, and exposure to violence. Besides, they scored lower on self-esteem, social support, and showed deficits in discipline by fathers and mothers. These adolescents were compared with the sample of adolescents receiving residential attention and the profile was almost identical. the latter scored higher on substance abuse and exposure to family violence.

Findings from this study indicate that the prevalence of child-to-parent aggression is high. This type of aggression overlaps with other forms of aggressive behavior and behavior problems. Exposure to family violence and deficits in discipline are important risk factors, which represents an intergenerational transmission of violence.