Gender Perspective in Research on Child-to-Parent Violence: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Propose Child-to-parent violence (CPV) is an increasing issue affecting many families and has been examined from various approaches. However, the explicit incorporation of a gender perspective, which is crucial for understanding power dynamics and social roles within violence, remains limited and fragmented in existing research. This scoping review was conducted to address this gap by providing a comprehensive analysis of how the gender perspective is integrated into CPV studies. In doing so, the aim was to enhance current knowledge and guide more effective, gender-sensitive interventions in this field. Methods Studies from 2010 to 2025 were reviewed through the following databases: Scopus, Web of Science, Dialnet Plus and PsycInfo. Results A total of eighty-two studies was included. Most of the sample came from Spanish studies, with community samples, focusing on adolescents as informants. Concerning the approaches to gender integration, results show that most studies have focused on an approach to gender mostly incorporating sex differences in the type of violence, frequency and in psychological characteristics. Followed by the gender-specific modeling approach, in which studies have focused on including separate models for mothers/fathers, or daughters/son, while also including gender as a predictor or having an interaction effect with other predictive factors. Most studies have included either the aggressor’s gender or both the category mother/father, son/daughter. The least frequent studies were those approaching norms and gender roles explicitly. Conclusion The results suggest the need that research on CPV incorporate designs that explicitly allow a gender aproach beyond sociodemographic characteristics as to provide rigorous analyses that make structural inequalities visible, recognize differential patterns of aggression and victimization, and design interventions that are better suited to the complexity of the phenomenon.