Global Perspectives on Gender Inequality, Parental Violence, and Child Development - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Gender inequality perpetuates harmful norms that justify violence against women and children and is
associated with higher rates of family violence. Worldwide, parental physical abuse is a common form of family
violence that children are exposed to at alarming rates. Parental engagement in physical abuse is linked to
negative child outcomes including depression, anxiety, and aggression that may persist into adulthood.
Globally, these continuing mental health and aggression problems may have high financial costs, with effects
both on social service systems and developing economies. Despite the substantial scholarship on parent- and
family-level predictors of parent-to-child physical violence, important questions remain about societal-level
predictors of parental physical abuse and its associations with young children’s development in developing and
transitional countries. A further gap in prior literature is the lack of studies that have examined the role of
individual child gender in the associations between gender inequality and parental violence against children,
considering that girls are likely to be more vulnerable to gender inequality than boys. Using data from over
520,000 families in 57 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the current project seeks to address these
research gaps by examining the associations of country-level gender inequality and violent social contexts with
caregivers’ use of physically abusive behavior and child social-emotional development. We will employ
multilevel models using data on parental physical violence against children, family socio-economic
characteristics, and children’s social-emotional development from the UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster
Surveys (MICS) and data on country-level gender inequality and violent social contexts from the United
Nations Development Programme on Human Development and the World Health Organization Global Health
Observatory. The specific aims are to 1) examine the associations of gender inequality with parental child
physical abuse in LMICs, and the moderating role of child gender in these associations, 2) examine the
associations of violent social norms and crimes with parental physical abuse in LMICs, and 3) examine the
associations of parental physical abuse with child social-emotional development in the context of gender
inequality and violent norms and crimes in LMICs, and whether country-level normativeness of physical abuse
moderates these associations. The proposed studies will advance the understanding of macro-level social and
economic indicators that perpetuate caregivers’ physical violence against children in international contexts.
Study findings will inform cross-cultural programs and policies that reduce gender disparities and prevent
parental physical abuse to promote child social-emotional development across the globe. In addition, these
studies will provide rigorous research engagement opportunities to undergraduate students and graduate
students and strengthen the research environment at the University of Michigan-Flint.
