Can supportive parenting protect against school delay amongst violence-exposed adolescents in South Africa?

• Published in: Child abuse & neglect Vol. 78; pp. 31 - 45
• Main Authors: Herrero Romero, Rocio, Hall, James, Cluver, Lucie, Meinck, Franziska
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2018; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Abused children; Academic Success; Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior; Adolescents; Child; Child Abuse; Child abuse & neglect; Child Abuse - psychology; Child Rearing; Childrearing practices; Children; Community; Community Relations; Disadvantaged; Discipline; Domestic violence; Education, Nonprofessional; Exposure to Violence - psychology; Female; Humans; Male; Parent Participation; Parent School Relationship; Parent-Child Relations; Parenting - psychology; Parents & parenting; Parents - psychology; Perceptions; School delay; School violence; Schools; Self Report; Social Support; Socioeconomic disadvantage; Socioeconomic factors; South Africa; Structural equation modeling; Supportive parenting; Teenage parents; Teenagers; Violence; South Africa; South Africa; School delay; Adolescents; Socioeconomic disadvantage; Violence; Supportive parenting
• ISSN: 0145-2134; 1873-7757
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.09.025

Exposure to multiple forms of violence is common amongst adolescents from socioeconomically disadvantaged communities in South Africa. Adolescents’ exposure to violence at home, in school and in their communities can lead to detrimental outcomes in education. In particular, adolescents who are more frequently exposed to multiple forms of violence are at risk of school delay. This paper investigates the potential for supportive parenting to protect against adolescents’ school delay in this context. With this aim, this paper applies structural equation modelling to a sample of 503 adolescents exposed to multiple forms of violence from 40 socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. Adolescents’ self-report data on child abuse in the family, school and community, and adolescents’ perceptions of positive parenting, consistent discipline, good monitoring, parental involvement and social support were analyzed. Results showed that perceptions of more positive parenting and consistent discipline moderated the relationship between more frequent exposure to multiple forms of violence and school delay. Our findings suggest that supportive parenting has the potential to protect against school delay for poly-victimized adolescents in South Africa.