Abstract
There is a peak in peer victimization during middle childhood, with multiple negative consequences. Parental use of corporal punishment and child aggression are the most widely studied predictors of this phenomenon. The aim of the present study was to analyze whether parental use of corporal punishment affects peer victimization through child aggression. This mediation model was explored for both mothers and fathers and for both physical and relational forms of aggression and peer victimization. Furthermore, we also analyzed whether the mediation models were moderated by the sex of the child. Participants were 234 third graders (46% girls). Child aggression and victimization were measured by peers using the Mini Direct Indirect Aggression Inventory. Independent measures of mother’s and father’s use of corporal punishment were obtained from a PCA of items from the Parental Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ). Conditional process modeling was carried out using a macro for SPSS developed by Hayes (2013). Results indicated that aggression mediated the relation of parental corporal punishment to peer victimization. Some interesting moderating effects of sex in this mediation model were found; specifically, physical, and relational aggression mediated the relation of maternal corporal punishment to peer victimization only in boys. Few studies to date have addressed the connection between aggressive behavior and peer victimization as outcomes of corporal punishment, taking into consideration the role of parent’s and child’s sex, and both physical and relational forms of aggression and victimization during childhood.
Highlights
Peer victimization refers to a situation in which someone is the target of frequent aggressive behaviors by peers (Crick et al, 2007)
Boys scored higher than girls for Father’s corporal punishment (FCP), no differences were found between the sexes for Mother’s corporal punishment (MCP)
Our findings indicate that (1) the adverse effect of parental use of corporal punishment on peer victimization was explained by child aggression; and (2) the influence of mother’s corporal punishment on peer victimization through child aggression was moderated by the child’s sex, meaning that (a) associations between mother’s corporal punishment and both physical and relational aggression were only significant for boys and (b) the indirect effect of mother’s corporal punishment on physical/relational victimization through physical/relational aggression was significant, again, only for boys
Summary
Peer victimization refers to a situation in which someone is the target of frequent aggressive behaviors by peers (Crick et al, 2007). Victimization experiences have been found to reach a peak in Punishment, Peer Victimization, and Aggression middle childhood (Sumter et al, 2012), and research has shown that, during this developmental stage, up to 60% of children are exposed to some form of victimization (Kochenderfer-Ladd and Wardrop, 2001). Being victimized by peers is especially hurtful during adolescence (Salmivalli, 2018), and longitudinal research has shown that peer victimization tends to remain stable from middle childhood onward, a period during which peer relations become increasingly important (Sourander et al, 2000). If we want to prevent the serious consequences of this phenomenon, it is important to study the factors that may place children at risk for peer victimization in middle childhood
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