Harsh Discipline Practices Research Articles

Should I Stay, or Should I Go Now? Neighborhood, Family, and Youth Predictors of Intracity Mobility.

The effects of residential mobility on youth development outcomes related to violence and victimization have traditionally been understood from an outward mobility perspective. Less attention has been paid to predictors of intracity moves, a more common mobility practice. Research, however, should identify factors associated with intracity mobility before scholars can explore and fully understand the impacts of moving within the city on youth development outcomes such as violence and victimization and whether they are akin to those identified for moves beyond city limits. Using data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, we apply a multilevel ecological framework to assess neighborhood, family, and youth factors associated with intracity mobility. We employed hierarchical generalized linear modeling to examine within and between-neighborhood models of intracity mobility among youth and their families who moved within Chicago (N = 426) and those who did not (N = 867). Our investigation highlights as important factors family dynamics instability and aggression and violence at the neighborhood level. Findings show that parental divorce/separation, harsh disciplinary practices, negative school experiences such as racial/ethnic conflict, gangs, or heightened security measures, and exposure to violence predict intracity mobility. Critically, negative school experiences proved to be a robust determinant of moving as cross-level interactions suggest neighborhood crime significantly shapes how these experiences inform intracity mobility. This study emphasizes the importance of examining mobility beyond urban city limits, noting distinct predictors of intracity mobility across systemic levels. The findings fill a gap in our understanding of neighborhood turnover and stability, while also providing a foundation for exploring within and between-neighborhood differences in intracity mobility.

Moral Injury in K-12 Education: A Phenomenological Inquiry at the Intersection of Race and Class

This study is a phenomenological exploration of moral injury among K-12 professionals who work in schools in which the large majority of students are students of color and are eligible for free or reduced lunch. All participants worked in one urban school district in the Midwest of the United States. Professionals identified harsh discipline practices, insincere restorative justice programs, deceptive use of outcome data, and a pitying approach to the education of low-income students of color as morally injurious practices. The paper ends with recommendations for how the construct of moral injury can be useful in identifying and confronting sources of educational injustice.

Perceived Stress of Mothers, Harsh Discipline, and Early Childhood Mental Health: Insights from a Cross-Sectional Study in Marginalized Roma Communities.

Objectives: This study aims to compare the early childhood mental health of children from marginalized Roma communities (MRCs) in Slovakia with that of the majority and explore possible mediating pathways of mothers' perceived stress and harsh discipline practices. Methods: We used data from the first wave of the longitudinal RomaREACH study collected in 2021-2022. Two populations were included in the sample: 94 mother-child dyads from MRCs and 79 from the majority population (children aged 14-18months). Data were analysed using linear regression, and mediation was tested using PROCESS Macro in SPSS. Results: Belonging to MRCs vs. the majority, perceived stress of mothers and harsh discipline were found to be associated with early mental health problems in children. Perceived stress of mothers partially mediates the relationship between belonging to MRCs vs. majority and harsh discipline and harsh discipline partially mediates the relationship between perceived stress of mothers and the mental health of children. Conclusion: Mothers from MRCs perceive more stress, which is associated with more frequent use of harsh discipline practices having a negative impact on the mental health of young children.

Classrooms as Healing Spaces: Decolonizing Conceptual Frameworks of Black Girls in K-12 School Settings

ABSTRACT There is substantive research that examines the punitive and harsh disciplinary practices in K-12 schools and the disproportionate effects on students of Color. While race has been central to this critical discourse; gender has remained secondary. Although both Black girls and boys face unique challenges in their K-12 academic environments, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting gender, in addition to race, impacts educational and psychological development. More specifically, for many Black girls, education is presented as the key to better opportunities with liberative power. Interestingly, few curricula taught in K-12 schools are designed with consideration of Black girls, who must contend with the typical adolescent developmental tasks within the context of a society that often devalues them. This conceptual article proposes a paradigm shift, which centers strengths and healthy development of Black girls in a time of heightened racial stress. A review of empirical research on punitive environmental norms of schools and the disproportionate effects on Black girls is presented. A conceptual framework is provided to help guide K-12 educators in addressing the mental health needs of Black girls. The framework proposes an anti-racist, culturally informed approach rooted in social justice initiatives to identify strengths and skills for promoting healthy and adaptive pathways for K-12 education for Black girls. The article illuminates the importance of decriminalizing Black girls and promoting an anti-racist paradigm to contextualize their educational and mental health needs. The article concludes with strategies that seek to intentionally create healing spaces in school settings for Black girls to fully explore their identities toward a healthy development.

Supporting child and family resilience in the face of political violence: Evidence from a home visit parenting program.

Political violence affects more than 25% of children globally, yet little is known about how to support positive adaptation among conflict-affected children. Using a sample of 3797 Nicaraguan child-caregiver dyads (MAgeTime1 = 1.5 years, MAgeTime2 = 5.9 years; 51% male), this registered report used a novel quasi-experimental approach to examine how exposure to political violence relates to child and caregiver outcomes, and to test three policy-relevant moderators: participation in a large-scale home visit parenting program, household economic disruption, and media exposure. Results revealed positive associations between political violence and harsh discipline practices (0.33 SD), but there was no evidence that political violence affected children's behavior, caregiver depressive symptoms, or responsive parenting practices, and there was no evidence of moderation.

Daily work stress and parent-to-child aggression: moderation of grandparent coresidence

Parental work stress was associated with parenting irritability and use of harsh disciplinary practices, but little is known about how daily fluctuations in work stress proliferate to everyday parenting practices in the context of multigenerational living. Using a quasi-experimental design, this study examined how grandparental coresidence moderates the link between daily work stress and parent-to-child aggression (PCA). Using propensity scores, we matched 129 three-generation households with 133 two-generation households in Zhengzhou, China, based on multiple family characteristics. Parents in both groups completed daily questionnaires for 15 consecutive days. Fixed effects models estimated the within-person associations between parent daily work stress and PCA among the two comparison groups. We found substantial daily fluctuations in parent work stress and PCA. The association between parent daily work stress and PCA significantly varied between two- and three-generation families and was only significant among the former. We conclude that co-residing grandparent(s) could be an important resource that buffers the work-to-PCA stress proliferation. Child abuse prevention programs would likely benefit from concerting with policies supporting the wellbeing of older adults and programs promoting work-life balance.

Association of Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence With Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Early Childhood Socioemotional Development Among Mothers and Children in Rural Tanzania

Approximately 1 in 4 women experience intimate partner violence (IPV) or nonpartner sexual violence during their lifetime. Mothers exposed to IPV are more likely to experience depressive symptoms and to discipline their children harshly, which may affect their children's socioemotional development; however, there is limited evidence on these outcomes. To examine the association between IPV, maternal depressive symptoms, harsh child discipline, and child stimulation with child socioemotional development. This study used cross-sectional follow-up data collected from February 19 to October 10, 2014, from a birth cohort of children aged 18 to 36 months who were enrolled in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of neonatal vitamin A supplementation in the Morogoro region of Tanzania. Data analysis occurred between September 10, 2019, and January 20, 2020. Lifetime experience of IPV was assessed using an abbreviated module of the Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey, maternal depressive symptoms were assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire, and data on harsh child discipline and maternal stimulation of their children were collected using modules of the United Nations Children's Fund Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey. Child socioemotional development was measured by the Caregiver-Reported Early Childhood Development Instruments. A total of 981 mother-child dyads were included in the analytic sample; 388 children (39.6%) were between ages 18 and 24 (mean [SD] age, 27.06 [6.08]) months, and 515 (52.5%) were male children. A negative association was observed between maternal report of physical IPV only (mean difference, -0.022; 95% CI, -0.045 to -0.006) and physical and sexual IPV (mean difference, -0.045; 95% CI, -0.077 to -0.013) with child socioemotional scores, but neither was statistically significant after including depressive symptoms in the model, which is consistent with mediation. Furthermore, a negative association was observed between maternal mild to severe depressive symptoms and child socioemotional development, including adjustment for IPV (mean difference, -0.073; 95% CI, -0.103 to -0.043). Harsh disciplinary practices and stimulation were not associated with child socioemotional development after adjusting for IPV, maternal depressive symptoms, and other factors. The findings of this study suggest that maternal depressive symptoms may explain the negative association between IPV and child socioemotional development.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE & NEGLECT IN PAKISTAN: INTERPRETIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS IN ADOLESCENTS

In recent years Pakistan amassed several reported cases related to child abuse and neglect. Abuse and Neglect are universal phenomena its roots are lying in historical perceptions where children were considered an object of mistreatment for customs and considered possessions by caregivers and other stakeholders. Abuse and neglect against adolescents exist in every culture and its forms are shaping and emerging based on the practices and systems of the culture. The purpose of the current study was to explore the form of abuse & neglect existing in culture among adolescents. To examine the forms of abuse and neglect that exists in Pakistani culture and to summate the experiences of the adolescent’s Interpretive phenomenological analysis was used to interpret and conceptualize themes. This study explored adolescents experiencing sexual abuse: sexual exploitation, blackmailing, Incest perpetrators, and physical abuse: Harsh discipline practices, dominance & control, and harmful traditional practices prevailing in Pakistani culture. Further to address the issue it is a spirited requisite to improve the management of the abused and neglected victims and a dire need to prevent long-term mental health consequences along with addressing to strengthen positive parenting practices, referral systems, and child protection policies in Pakistan. Keywords: Neglect, Sexual Abuse, Physical Abuse, Adolescents, Mental Health.

Harsh Physical Discipline: Prevalence and Associated Factors Among Primary Caregivers of Pre-school Children in Ethiopia.

Harsh parental discipline is ineffective and potentially harmful to children, yet it is still common, particularly in many African countries. Culturally responsive education programs are needed to shift parenting practices in African countries, but there is limited baseline research to inform such efforts. This study’s objectives were to establish the baseline prevalence of harsh physical discipline practices among primary caregivers of pre-school children in Ethiopia and to identify associated factors to inform intervention efforts. The well-established Parent–Child Conflict Tactics Scale section on physical assault was translated and administered to primary caregivers of 1139 pre-school children aged 4–6 years sampled from four regions of Ethiopia. Trained interviewers also collected basic socio-demographic data. Based on caregiver report, 52.5% (n = 598) of the children had experienced harsh physical discipline and an additional 12.7% (n = 145) experienced moderate physical discipline in their lifetimes. After controlling for covariates, the factors significantly related to increased likelihood of harsh discipline were geographic region, female caregivers, lack of employment, at least moderate perceived social status, and non-Muslim religion. These data establish a baseline from which to evaluate the impact of future educational interventions designed to shift practices. Information about the correlates can be used to tailor such intervention efforts toward those most likely to use harsh discipline practices.

A Promotive Process of Resource Gain Against Harsh and Inconsistent Discipline in Mothers Coping With Breast Cancer: A Serial Mediation Model.

Breast cancer is a life-threatening disease and a source of enduring stress. The Family Stress Model posits that psychological distress provoked by stressful conditions may spill over and intensify harsh and inconsistent parental discipline. However, the Conservation of Resources theory posits that having more resources may lead to further resource gain, which may promote adaptive coping with adversities. Therefore, this study examined a serial mediation model in which financial resources (income) are predicted to be associated with more interpersonal resources (paternal involvement). The latter is expected to be linked with less maternal post-traumatic stress symptoms, which, in turn, should be associated with less harsh and inconsistent discipline in mothers coping with breast cancer. A sample of 100 Israeli mothers receiving breast cancer treatments was recruited through social media. The participants completed online self-report questionnaires. Structural Equation Modeling indicated significant serial mediation, in which a greater income level was associated with more paternal involvement, which was linked to a lower level of maternal post-traumatic symptoms. The latter, in turn, was associated with less harsh and inconsistent maternal discipline practices. We controlled for illness severity and the time since diagnosis, which did not predict maternal discipline practices. The study suggests that although breast cancer is a stressful condition for any family, having more financial resources can be a significant promotive factor predicting a cascading process by which paternal functioning facilitates better mental health of mothers, and, in turn, better maternal parenting practices.

A qualitative insight into children’s and care-givers’ experience following re-integration from Uganda’s residential care facilities into family-based care

This article aims to elevate children’s and caretakers’ voices in shaping reunification and reintegration planning and implementation. It takes into consideration, the priority for children to experience fulfilling and happy childhoods following reunification from residential care facilities (RCFs) to homebased care (HBC). The article is based on 23 children who were followed up, 12 months post reunification from RCFs into HBC in six districts within central Uganda, a region with the highest concentration of RCFs. We conducted 11 in-depth interviews with older children aged 8–13 years and 23 in-depth interviews from the caregivers, who also provided information on 12 children who on account of age (less than 8 years) could not be interviewed. The qualitative study was nested under a longitudinal study (Randomised Controlled Trial NCT03498469). This study has revealed positive experiences following re-unification of children with homebased caregivers such as; continuous and positive child-caregiver interactions which translated into trusting and loving relationships and bonding between children and caregivers; improved parenting practices characterised by warmth and responsiveness to children’s physical, emotional and material needs and less reliance on harsh disciplinary practices; and social reintegration exemplified by children forging positive relationships with family and community members and their active participation in ongoing social activities. Yet the voices that perceived reunification negatively point to the overarching need to prioritise household welfare through economic strengthening efforts and other forms of provisioning and more crucially, ensuring children’s continued access to quality education as key ingredients in planning and implementing successful child reintegration efforts, including assuring children of happy and fulfilling childhoods.

Cradle-to-Prison Pipeline

Youth who experience academic failure are at a greater risk for involvement in delinquency. While studies have revealed a myriad of factors for such failure, the perceptions of these youth regarding their educational experiences have proven to be one of the most valuable resources regarding the systematic barriers to academic achievement. The purpose of this essay is to examine how youth of color are overwhelming affected by a phenomenon known as Cradle-to-Prison Pipeline. Several school districts in the U. S. employ harsh discipline practices that inevitably push students out of classrooms, on the streets, and in the juvenile justice system at an astounding rate. Students of color experience higher rates of suspensions, expulsion, truancy, retention, and academic failure in schools. Harsh discipline polices, along with bias and discrimination have a direct or indirect impact on their academic journey, including feeling of inferiority due to their academic shortcomings.
 *The original version of this article included the term Native Indigenous students. Per the authors request, the term Native Indigenous has been replaced with Indigenous.

The 1994 Gun-Free Schools Act: Its Effects 25 Years Later and How to Undo Them

The prevalence of harsh discipline policies and practices in schools negatively affects students’ abilities to academically and socially thrive (Brown, 2007; P. Noguera, 1995; Skiba et al., 2011). ...

Culturally Responsive Early Childhood Consultation

ABSTRACT Racially disproportionate discipline compromises children’s rights and perpetuates racial inequalities that begin in preschool. This paper describes the use of culturally responsive early childhood consultation that may be used to reduce preschool suspension and expulsion, focusing on increasing early childhood teachers’ cultural competence and use of instructional strategies to counter the racist educational practices inherent in early childhood educational systems. School psychologists are poised to engage in culturally responsive early childhood consultation given their training in cultural diversity and their expanding role to indirectly and proactively support early educators. Specific competencies are presented for school psychologists to target during culturally responsive consultation with early childhood teachers. While complex and difficult, culturally responsive early childhood consultation has the potential to support early educators to reflect on their own cultural identity, shift their perspectives about Black and Brown children and families, and decrease the likelihood that they will use harsh discipline practices.

The longitudinal relations between disciplinary practices and emotion regulation in early years

AbstractThis article examines the reciprocal relationships between parental disciplinary practices and child emotion regulation in the first 3 years of life. Using three‐wave cross‐lagged panel models, more salient effects are found from parent to child than from child to parent at the very first stage. The stronger parent–child effects hold for both corrective and harsh disciplinary practices. Furthermore, the results indicate significant gender differences in the bidirectionality across time: for girls a parent–child–parent association is found in which corrective discipline significantly predicts child emotion regulation and child emotion regulation in turn predicts corrective discipline, whereas for boys, only a child–parent link emerges such that emotion regulation at time 2 is associated with corrective discipline at time 3. These findings portray the early transactional characteristics of parental disciplinary action and child emotion development as well as the gender‐differentiated effects in reciprocity.

Parenting for Child Development: The development and preliminary pilot of a parenting intervention to reduce violence against children in Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a low-income country experiencing high rates of family violence and child maltreatment. Child protection services are under-developed, and few tertiary-trained social workers are employed by them. A research team was commissioned to develop a parenting programme for implementation in remote provinces. After development and co-design of the programme, a pre- and post-evaluation was conducted in 10 communities to test the programme’s potential to facilitate change. Measures of harsh parenting, family well-being and parental attitudes were translated by experienced academics and administered to parents by a team of staff and students from a local university. Responses were subjected to factor analyses. A series of paired-sample t-tests was conducted to ascertain change in parents’ reported family well-being and use of harsh disciplinary practices (sample n = 159). Encouraging numbers of caregivers attended the programme in all sites. The analysis of change between pre- and post-programme scores revealed statistically significant reductions in verbal abuse and corporal punishment, and in harsh parenting overall, with reductions in partner violence and family difficulties contributing to improvements in family well-being. The evaluation indicates that with further development, this programme could be implemented as a primary prevention measure to complement child protection services. To consolidate the programme’s future implementation by building the pool of trained personnel, links with social work education should be further developed.

Experiences With COVID-19 Stressors and Parents' Use of Neglectful, Harsh, and Positive Parenting Practices in the Northeastern United States.

To estimate household exposure to COVID-19 related stress and the association with parent report of neglectful, harsh, and positive discipline practices. Cross sectional survey data was collected from 2,068 parents in the Northeastern US. Parents reported personal and household experiences of COVID-19 stressors, their level of distress, and use of neglectful parenting and discipline practices for a randomly selected child in their home. Analyses estimated rates of COVID-19 related stress and parenting practices. Logistic regression was used to assess the relation of COVID-19 stress to parenting behaviors. Individual and household stressor level, as well as distress were each positively associated with likelihood of neglect. Personal exposure to stressors was minimally related to discipline, but household stressor level and parents' distress were positively associated with harsh and positive discipline. Indicators of COVID-19 stress (e.g., exposure to stressors and distress) each uniquely predicted parents' use of neglect, particularly physical and family-based sub-types, and use of harsh and positive discipline practices. Results suggest that parents may require additional support to provide appropriate care for their children while coping with the increased rates of stress associated with the pandemic and the resulting public health response.

Parenting Practices and Child Conduct Problems in a Norwegian Subclinical Sample: Variable and Person‐Centered Approaches

ObjectiveThe aims of this study were (a) to examine how different parenting practices connect to each other and to child conduct problems (variable‐centered approach) and (b) to identify groups of parents who share the same parenting style and identify how these relate to child conduct problems (person‐centered approach).BackgroundSubstantial evidence indicates that positive parenting practices are associated with lower levels of child conduct problems, whereas negative practices are associated with higher levels of child problem behavior. Research is limited when it comes to examining parenting practices at intake to parent management training in clinical Scandinavian samples.MethodParticipants were 551 Norwegian parents and their children (aged 3–12 years) with moderate to high levels of conduct problems. Parents reported on child conduct problems and parenting practices. Associations between different parenting practices and child conduct problems were examined using network and latent profile analyses.ResultsThree latent profiles of parenting were identified, each related to different levels of child conduct problems. The network of practices showed that parental mental distress and harsh discipline were directly associated with higher levels of child conduct problems. The majority of parents were characterized as permissive and displayed a mix of positive and harsh parenting.ConclusionHarsh parenting was related to higher levels of child conduct problems. Discipline skills appeared as especially important in the network analyses.ImplicationsParent training should address harsh discipline practices and parental mental distress, given that these are associated with more child conduct problems. Discipline skills appeared as the most important targets for changing overall parenting practices.

Mindfulness-Enhanced Behavioral Parent Training for Clinic-Referred Families of Children With ADHD: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective: This study evaluated the efficacy of a mindfulness-enhanced behavioral parent training (BPT) group program compared to standard BPT in families of children with ADHD. Method: Parents (N = 63) of children (aged 6–11) diagnosed with ADHD were randomly assigned to either mindful or standard BPT, and participated in 12 weekly 2-hr group sessions. Parents completed a series of questionnaires assessing mindful parenting, parenting stress, harsh discipline practices, behavioral dysregulation, and child ADHD symptoms, before and after completing the group intervention. Results: Parents in the mindful group had decreased harsh discipline practices and improved self-regulation compared to parents in the standard group. Both groups improved in parenting sense of competence and child ADHD symptoms. No significant group differences were found in mindful parenting or parenting stress. Conclusion: There are some important parental benefits to enhancing BPT with mindfulness.

Family risk factors and harsh discipline practices that predict child’s aggressive behavior

Objective: A model of family risk factors and harsh discipline practices that predict child’s aggressive behavior was empirically evaluated, identifying its adequacy in terms of data adjustment and conceptual congruence. Method: A sample of 409 mothers of children from public elementary schools was used. The selected family risk factors were: symptoms of maternal anxiety, marital violence and harsh discipline practices; the criterion variable was the child’s aggressive behavior. The model assumes that maternal anxiety and marital violence have effects on child’s aggressive behavior, which is mediated by harsh discipline practices. The research strategy was designed with a structural equation model. The results were satisfactory (CFI = .952, NNFI = .94 and RMSEA = .08) and the model predicted 34% of the variance of child’s aggressive behavior problems. Due to its direct effects, harsh discipline depends on maternal anxiety (β = .44) and marital violence (β = .10). Harsh discipline is a mediating variable between child’s aggressive behavior and maternal anxiety and marital violence (β = .59). Results: The results indicate that maternal anxiety and marital violence have significant effects on child’s aggressive behavior problems, which are mediated by disciplinary practices. Conclusion: The results must be confirmed with new studies conducted in different populations that allow generalizing the findings.