A new longitudinal study on Palestinian and Israeli families found that exposure to ethnic-political violence increased harsh parenting, which subsequently boosted aggression in children.

Coauthored by Paul Boxer, professor of psychology at Rutgers and faculty affiliate of the Rutgers University School of Criminal Justice, the study is based on the social ecological systems framework and the family stress model. From 2006 to 2016, researchers collected data from Israeli Jewish and Palestinian 8, 11, and 14 year olds and their parents.

Published in the International Journal of Behavioral Development, the study found that families’ exposure to ethnic-political violence significantly predicted marital aggression in parents, which in turn predicted harsh physical punishment toward their children. This, in turn, predicted children’s aggressive behavior.

“Although families can be resilient in the face of war and significant societal conflict, and can take steps to shield their children, few will be immune from the effects of violence in their communities,” said Boxer. “Through the family stress model, we can see how the ideologies that give rise to sustained ethnic-political violence can ‘trickle down’ through disrupted family relationships to harm children’s outcomes.”

The findings of the study have significant implications for understanding youth development in areas affected by war. According to Boxer, results provide “strong justification for multi-tiered interventions that target macro- and micro-system levels of the social ecology as best practices for addressing the mental health effects of families in war zones.”