Hugs, Not Hits: Warmth and Spanking As Predictors of Child Social Competence

Overview

Journal J Marriage Fam

Date 2021 Sep 29

PMID 34584295

Citations 16

Authors

Inna Altschul

Shawna J Lee

Elizabeth T Gershoff

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Many parents believe that spanking is an effective way to promote children's positive behavior, yet few studies have examined spanking and the development of social competence. Using information from 3,279 families with young children who participated in a longitudinal study of urban families, this study tested competing hypotheses regarding whether maternal spanking or maternal warmth predicted increased social competence and decreased child aggression over time and which parent behavior was a stronger predictor of these changes. The frequency of maternal spanking was unrelated to maternal warmth. Findings from cross-lagged path models indicated that spanking was not associated with children's social competence, but spanking predicted increases in child aggression. Conversely, maternal warmth predicted children's greater social competence but was not associated with aggression. Warmth was a significantly stronger predictor of children's social competence than spanking, suggesting that warmth may be a more effective way to promote children's social competence than spanking.

Citing Articles

Examining the Longitudinal Effect of Spanking on Young Latinx Child Behavior Problems.

OGara J, Calzada E, LaBrenz C, Barajas-Gonzalez R J Child Fam Stud. 2024; 29(11):3080-3090.

PMID: 38283236 PMC: 10817758. DOI: 10.1007/s10826-020-01818-x.

Associations between 11 parental discipline behaviours and child outcomes across 60 countries.

Ward K, Grogan-Kaylor A, Ma J, Pace G, Lee S BMJ Open. 2023; 13(10):e058439.

PMID: 37903610 PMC: 10619078. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-058439.

An Examination of Parents' Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) History and Reported Spanking of Their Child: Informing Child Maltreatment Prevention Efforts.

Afifi T, Salmon S, Stewart-Tufescu A, Taillieu T Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022; 19(17).

PMID: 36078294 PMC: 9518050. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph191710580.

How are parental practices and attitudes towards corporal punishment related to child academic, developmental, or psychological-emotional dysfunctioning?.

Grujicic R, Toskovic O, Lazarevic L, Mandic-Maravic V, Mitkovic-Voncina M, Radanovic A Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2022; 32(11):2175-2185.

PMID: 35948853 DOI: 10.1007/s00787-022-02061-z.

Parent Discipline and Pre-schoolers' Social Skills.

Tompkins V, Villaruel E Early Child Dev Care. 2022; 192(3):410-424.

PMID: 35399602 PMC: 8991749. DOI: 10.1080/03004430.2020.1763978.

References

Lee S, Altschul I, Gershoff E . Wait until your father gets home? Mother's and fathers' spanking and development of child aggression. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2021; 52:158-166. PMC: 8386334. DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.11.006. View

MacKenzie M, Nicklas E, Waldfogel J, Brooks-Gunn J . Spanking and child development across the first decade of life. Pediatrics. 2013; 132(5):e1118-25. PMC: 3813398. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2013-1227. View

Eiden R, Edwards E, Leonard K . A conceptual model for the development of externalizing behavior problems among kindergarten children of alcoholic families: role of parenting and children's self-regulation. Dev Psychol. 2007; 43(5):1187-201. PMC: 2720575. DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.43.5.1187. View

Straus M, Stewart J . Corporal punishment by American parents: national data on prevalence, chronicity, severity, and duration, in relation to child and family characteristics. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2001; 2(2):55-70. DOI: 10.1023/a:1021891529770. View

Kessler R, Ustun T . The World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative Version of the World Health Organization (WHO) Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Int J Methods Psychiatr Res. 2004; 13(2):93-121. PMC: 6878592. DOI: 10.1002/mpr.168. View

Taylor C, Hamvas L, Rice J, Newman D, DeJong W . Perceived social norms, expectations, and attitudes toward corporal punishment among an urban community sample of parents. J Urban Health. 2011; 88(2):254-69. PMC: 3079037. DOI: 10.1007/s11524-011-9548-7. View

Lee S, Perron B, Taylor C, Guterman N . Paternal psychosocial characteristics and corporal punishment of their 3-year-old children. J Interpers Violence. 2010; 26(1):71-87. DOI: 10.1177/0886260510362888. View

Larzelere R, Kuhn B, Johnson B . The intervention selection bias: an underrecognized confound in intervention research. Psychol Bull. 2004; 130(2):289-303. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.130.2.289. View

Ferguson C . Spanking, corporal punishment and negative long-term outcomes: a meta-analytic review of longitudinal studies. Clin Psychol Rev. 2013; 33(1):196-208. DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2012.11.002. View

10.

Gershoff E . Spanking and Child Development: We Know Enough Now To Stop Hitting Our Children. Child Dev Perspect. 2013; 7(3):133-137. PMC: 3768154. DOI: 10.1111/cdep.12038. View

11.

. Guidance for effective discipline. American Academy of Pediatrics. Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health. Pediatrics. 1998; 101(4 Pt 1):723-8. View

12.

Lee S, Altschul I, Gershoff E . Does warmth moderate longitudinal associations between maternal spanking and child aggression in early childhood?. Dev Psychol. 2013; 49(11):2017-28. PMC: 7988800. DOI: 10.1037/a0031630. View

13.

Larzelere R, Kuhn B . Comparing child outcomes of physical punishment and alternative disciplinary tactics: a meta-analysis. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2005; 8(1):1-37. DOI: 10.1007/s10567-005-2340-z. View

14.

Rohner R . The parental "acceptance-rejection syndrome": universal correlates of perceived rejection. Am Psychol. 2004; 59(8):830-840. DOI: 10.1037/0003-066X.59.8.830. View

15.

Tach L, Edin K . The compositional and institutional sources of union dissolution for married and unmarried parents in the United States. Demography. 2013; 50(5):1789-818. DOI: 10.1007/s13524-013-0203-7. View

16.

MacKenzie M, Nicklas E, Brooks-Gunn J, Waldfogel J . Who Spanks Infants and Toddlers? Evidence from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2011; 33(8):1364-1373. PMC: 3114638. DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.04.007. View

17.

Lee S, Taylor C, Altschul I, Rice J . Parental Spanking and Subsequent Risk for Child Aggression in Father-Involved Families of Young Children. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2013; 35(9):1476-1485. PMC: 3765035. DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2013.05.016. View

18.

Lansford J, Criss M, Laird R, Shaw D, Pettit G, Bates J . Reciprocal relations between parents' physical discipline and children's externalizing behavior during middle childhood and adolescence. Dev Psychopathol. 2011; 23(1):225-38. PMC: 3050569. DOI: 10.1017/S0954579410000751. View

19.

Mathiesen K, Tambs K . The EAS temperament questionnaire--factor structure, age trends, reliability, and stability in a Norwegian sample. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 1999; 40(3):431-9. View

20.

Baumrind D, Larzelere R, Cowan P . Ordinary physical punishment: is it harmful? Comment on Gershoff (2002). Psychol Bull. 2002; 128(4):580-9; discussion 602-11. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.128.4.580. View