The purpose of this research was to invenstigate the connection between aggressive behaviors in preschool children and their parents’ emotional abuse potential. A correlational methodology was chosen to investigate the associations adressed in this research. The participants were 740 children attending public preschool and kindergarten programs in Etimesgut, Ankara, during the 2023-2024 school year, along with their parents. Data collection was carried out using the General Information Form, the Emotional Abuse Potential Scale for Parents with Children Aged 3–6, and the Aggression Tendency Scale for Children Aged 36–72 Months. The obtained data were analyzed using appropriate statistical procedures in the SPSS software program. The findings revealed that significant relationships between the causal dimension of the Emotional Abuse Potential Scale and all subdimensions of the Aggression Tendency Scale, including physical aggression toward others, relational aggression toward others, self-directed aggression, and aggression toward objects/materials. In addition, a significant relationship was identified between the physical aggression toward others subdimension of the Aggression Tendency Scale and the total score of the Emotional Abuse Potential Scale. These findings suggest that as parents exhibit more behaviors associated with emotional abuse, children’s aggression tendencies tend to increase accordingly.

Aggression, aggressive tendency, emotional bbuse, emotional abuse potential, preschool education.