NCJ Number
205937
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 25 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2001 Pages: 787-802
Editor(s)
Richard D. Krugman
Date Published
June 2001
Length
16 pages
Annotation
The purpose of this study was to test the structural model of the antecedents and socioemotional consequences of mothers’ use of physical punishment on children in two-parent families.
Abstract
Previous research has shown that children who are harshly or physically punished are more likely to experience socioemotional problems than are children whose parents use other forms of discipline. Some of these problems include: antisocial behavior, low self-esteem, internalizing symptoms, and externalizing behaviors. The objective of this study was to test a structural model of the antecedents and socioemotional consequences of mothers’ use of physical punishment on a national sample of 4 to 9 year old children in two-parent families. The antecedents in the study included: poverty, maternal birth age and education, fathers’ education, maternal depression, and marital conflict. The socioemotional consequences of physical punishment were measured by children’s externalizing and internalizing problems. Data were extracted from the mother-child dataset of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). The initial survey was conducted in 1979 and included 12,686 individuals. The data for this study came from the 1992 and 1994 survey years. Consistent with previous studies, poverty was positively related to maternal depression, which had both direct and indirect influences on mothers’ frequent use of physical punishment and on children’s socioemotional problems. It is also suggested that stress mediates the effect of poverty on child abuse. Consistent with past research, both marital conflict and physical punishment were linked to children’s socioemotional problems. Fathers’ education played a minor role compared to other factors that resulted in mothers’ frequent use of physical punishment and children’s socioemotional problems. More educated mothers were less likely to use physical punishment, suggesting that knowledge of alternative child disciplinary practices influences mothers’ use of physical punishment. The effect of depression on physical punishment and the effect of physical punishment on socioemotional problems were larger for older than younger children. The total effects of poverty, maternal depression, and marital conflict on the use of physical punishment were also consistent in all groups. Despite noted limitations, the results have social policy implications. Consistent with other studies, physical punishment was a common practice in this sample. The findings suggest that social programs that increase families’ financial resources without adding stigma or stress might indirectly decrease physical punishment and children’s socioemotional problems. References