Parents' use of harsh punishment and young children's behaviour and achievement: a longitudinal study of Jamaican children with conduct problems.

H Baker-Henningham,T Francis

doi:10.1017/gmh.2018.21

H Baker-Henningham, T Francis

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1017/gmh.2018.21

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Abstract

Harsh punishment by parents is common in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), yet there is limited evidence from LMIC of the effects of harsh punishment on child outcomes. A longitudinal, prospective study was conducted with children with conduct problems to examine the associations between parents' use of harsh punishment during the preschool years on child behaviour and school achievement in grade one of primary school. As part of an efficacy trial in 24 preschools, 225 children with the highest level of teacher-reported conduct problems were evaluated and their parents reported on how often they used harsh punishment. Outcome measures in grade one included child conduct problems by independent observation, teacher and parent report, child social skills by teacher and parent report, direct tests of children's academic achievement and language skills, and tester ratings of child attention and impulse control. Children had a mean age of 6.92 years and 61% were boys. All parents reported using harsh punishment. After controlling for child age and sex, socio-economic status, parents' involvement with child and maternal education, frequency of harsh punishment was associated with growth in child conduct problems by independent classroom observations (p=0.037), parent (p=0.018) and teacher (p=0.044) report, a reduction in child social skills by teacher (p=0.024) and parent (p=0.014) report and poorer attention during the test session (p=0.049). The associations between frequency of parents' use of harsh punishment with their preschoolers with conduct problems and later child behaviour indicate a need to train parents in non-violent behaviour management.

Highlights

Harsh punishment by parents is common in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), yet there is limited evidence from LMIC of the effects of harsh punishment on child outcomes
We investigate the associations between harsh punishment and later child outcomes for young children with high levels of conduct problems
Of these children were currently in the clinical range for conduct problems by teacher and parent report. These children were selected because they had the highest levels of behaviour problems during the preschool years

Summary

Introduction

Harsh punishment by parents is common in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), yet there is limited evidence from LMIC of the effects of harsh punishment on child outcomes. In a meta-analytical review of 88 studies, Gershoff (2002) found that corporal punishment was associated with increased aggression [effect size (ES): 0.36], poor mental health (ES = −0.49), negative parent–child relationships (ES = −0.58) and delinquent and antisocial behaviour (ES = 0.42) in childhood. Effects of corporal punishment persisted into adulthood leading to increased aggression (ES = 0.57), poor mental health (ES = −0.09), criminality and antisocial behaviour (ES = 0.42) and an increased risk for perpetrating child or spouse abuse (ES = 0.13) (Gershoff, 2002). There is some evidence that the effect of harsh punishment on achievement is moderated by risk status with more vulnerable children at particular risk, for example, children in out-of home care (Romano et al 2015) and children with HIV (Sherr et al 2016)

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