Child corporal punishment (CP) may lead to child physical abuse, which is a public health concern in the United States. The present study examined major risk factors predicting attitudes toward CP among a sample of Black parents (N = 394), including frequency and valence of experiences of CP during childhood, outcome expectancies of CP, and perceptions of self-efficacy and response efficacy of non-physical discipline strategies. Structural equation modeling results revealed that the indirect associations between CP frequency and attitudes through self-efficacy and response efficacy were moderated by CP valence. Results extend the literature and point to the need for incorporating information about efficacy of evidence-based non-physical discipline strategies into intervention messages targeting prevention of child physical abuse.
AfifiT. O.FordD.GershoffE. T.MerrickM.Grogan-KaylorA.PortsK. A.MacMillanH. L.HoldenG. W.TaylorC. A.LeeS. J.BennettR. P. (2017). Spanking and adult mental health impairment: The case for the designation of spanking as an adverse childhood experience. Child Abuse & Neglect, 71, 24–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.01.014
AjzenI.FishbeinM. (1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting social behaviour. Prentice-Hall.
4.
AjzenI.FishbeinM. (2000). Attitudes and the attitude-behavior relation: Reasoned and automatic processes. European Review of Social Psychology, 11(1), 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/14792779943000116
AteahC. A.DurrantJ. E. (2005). Maternal use of physical punishment in response to child misbehavior: Implications for child abuse prevention. Child Abuse & Neglect, 29(2), 169–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2004.10.010
7.
AwangZ. (2014). Research methodology and data analysis (2nd ed.). UiTM Press.
BanduraA. (1986). The explanatory and predictive scope of self-efficacy theory. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 4(3), 359–373. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.1986.4.3.359
BaniaminH. M. (2022). Variations in the acceptance of parental corporal punishment of children: What matters?Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(19–20), 18006–18031. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211035856
12.
BellerJ.KrögerC.KliemS. (2021). Slapping them into heaven? Individual and social religiosity, religious fundamentalism, and belief in heaven and hell as predictors of support for corporal punishment. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(15–16), NP8482–NP8497. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260519842857
13.
Bent-GoodleyT. (2021). Diversity in interpersonal violence research. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(11–12), 4937–4952. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211013
14.
BerlinL. J.AppleyardK.DodgeK. A. (2011). Intergenerational continuity in child maltreatment: Mediating mechanisms and implications for prevention: Intergenerational continuity. Child Development, 82(1), 162–176. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01547.x
BrodskyA. E.DeVetK. A. (2000). “You have to be real strong”: Parenting goals and strategies of resilient, urban, African American, single mothers. Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community, 20(1–2), 159–178. https://doi.org/10.1300/J005v20n01_11
17.
ChavisA.Hudnut-BeumlerJ.WebbM. W.NeelyJ. A.BickmanL.DietrichM. S.ScholerS. J. (2013). A brief intervention affects parents’ attitudes toward using less physical punishment. Child Abuse & Neglect, 37(12), 1192–1201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.06.003
18.
ChioccaE. M. (2017). American parents’ attitudes and beliefs about corporal punishment: An integrative literature review. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 31(3), 372–383. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedhc.2017.01.002
19.
CrouchJ. L.BehlL. E. (2001). Relationships among parental beliefs in corporal punishment, reported stress, and physical child abuse potential. Child Abuse & Neglect, 25(3), 413–419. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0145-2134(00)00256-8
20.
CuartasJ. (2022). Corporal punishment and child development in low-and-middle-income countries: Progress, challenges, and directions. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-022-01362-3
21.
DecetyJ.CowellJ. M. (2018). Interpersonal harm aversion as a necessary foundation for morality: A developmental neuroscience perspective. Development and Psychopathology, 30(1), 153–164. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579417000530
22.
DuongH. T. (2021). Applying the integrative model to predict intention to use corporal punishment among low-income parents. Health Education & Behavior, 50(2), 250–259. https://doi.org/10.1177/10901981211052881
23.
DuongH. T. (2022). Childhood experiences and attitudes toward corporal punishment: The mediating role of perceived efficacy of alternative discipline strategies among low-income Black, Hispanic, and White parents. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(19–20), 18266–18290. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/08862605211035879
24.
DuongH. T.MonahanJ. L.KollarL. M. M.KlevensJ. (2021). Identifying knowledge, self-efficacy and response efficacy of alternative discipline strategies among low-income Black, Latino and White parents. Health Education Research, 36(2), 192–205. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyaa053
25.
DuongH. T.MonahanJ. L.Mercer KollarL. M.KlevensJ. (2022). Examining sources of social norms supporting child corporal punishment among low-income Black, Latino, and White parents. Health Communication, 37(11), 1413–1422. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2021.1895418
26.
DuongH. T.SirohiA. (2023). Where do perceived norms supporting child corporal punishment come from? A study of low-income parents. Health Communication, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2023.2193754
27.
DurrantJ.EnsomR. (2012). Physical punishment of children: Lessons from 20 years of research. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 184(12), 1373–1377. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.101314
28.
EdwardsJ. R.LambertL. S. (2007). Methods for integrating moderation and mediation: A general analytical framework using moderated path analysis. Psychological Methods, 12(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.12.1.1
FergusonC. J. (2013). Spanking, corporal punishment and negative long-term outcomes: A meta-analytic review of longitudinal studies. Clinical Psychology Review, 33(1), 196–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2012.11.002
31.
Finzi-DottanR.HarelG. (2014). Parents’ potential for child abuse: An intergenerational perspective. Journal of Family Violence, 29(4), 397–408. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-014-9592-7
32.
FishbeinM. (2008). A reasoned action approach to health promotion. Medical Decision Making, 28(6), 834–844.
33.
FishbeinM.AjzenI. (2011). Predicting and changing behavior: The reasoned action approach. Psychological Press.
34.
FishbeinM.CappellaJ. N. (2006). The role of theory in developing effective health communications. Journal of Communication, 56(suppl_1), S1–S17. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2006.00280.x
FleckmanJ. M.TaylorC. A.TheallK. P.AndrinopoulosK. (2019). The association between perceived injunctive norms toward corporal punishment, parenting support, and risk for child physical abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 88, 246–255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.11.023
37.
FlemingT. C.BorregoJ. (2019). Preliminary support for the theory of planned behavior in pre-parent discipline intentions. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 28, 1105–1115. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01331-w
38.
FontesL. A. (2005). Child abuse and culture: Working with diverse families. Guilford Press.
39.
FortsonB. L.KlevensJ.MerrickM. T.GilbertL. K.AlexanderS. P. (2016). Preventing child abuse and neglect: A technical package for policy, norm, and programmatic activities. Center for Disease Control.
40.
GagnéM. H.TourignyM.JolyJ.Pouliot-LapointeJ. (2007). Predictors of adult attitudes toward corporal punishment of children. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 22(10), 1285–1304. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260507304550
41.
GershoffE. T.GoodmanG. S.Miller-PerrinC. L.HoldenG. W.JacksonY.KazdinA. E. (2018). The strength of the causal evidence against physical punishment of children and its implications for parents, psychologists, and policymakers. American Psychologist, 73(5), 626–638. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000327
42.
GershoffE. T.LansfordJ. E.SextonH. R.Davis-KeanP.SameroffA. J. (2012). Longitudinal links between spanking and children’s externalizing behaviors in a national sample of White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian American families: Spanking and externalizing behavior. Child Development, 83(3), 838–843. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01732.x
43.
GershoffE. T.LeeS. J.DurrantJ. E. (2017). Promising intervention strategies to reduce parents’ use of physical punishment. Child Abuse & Neglect, 71, 9–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.01.017
44.
HairJ. F.Jr.BlackW. C.BabinB. J.AndersonR. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Pearson Education
45.
HayesA. F. (2017). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford Publications.
46.
HoldenG. W. (2020). Why do parents hit their children? From cultural to unconscious determinants. The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 73(1), 10–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/00797308.2020.1690858
47.
HoldenG. W.BrownA. S.BaldwinA. S.Croft CaderaoK. (2014). Research findings can change attitudes about corporal punishment. Child Abuse & Neglect, 38(5), 902–908. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.10.013
48.
HoldenG. W. (2001). Attitudes toward spanking (ATS). In TouliatosJ.PerlmutterB. R.HoldenG. W. (Eds.), Handbook of family measurement techniques (p. 209). SAGE.
49.
HuL. T.BentlerP. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
50.
KlevensJ.KollarL. M.RizzoG.O’SheaG.NguyenJ.RobyS. (2019). Commonalities and differences in social norms related to corporal punishment among Black, Latino and White parents. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 36(1), 19–28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-018-0591-z
51.
MacKenzieM. J.NicklasE.Brooks-GunnJ.WaldfogelJ. (2011). Who spanks infants and toddlers? Evidence from the fragile families and child well-being study. Children and Youth Services Review, 33, 1364–1373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.04.007
52.
MagariñoL. S.EvansM. C.DuongJ. B.VillodasF.VillodasM. T. (2021). Racial/ethnic group differences in parenting attitudes among at-risk emerging adults: The roles of adversity, relationship quality, and caregiver involvement and attitudes. Child Abuse & Neglect, 111, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104810
53.
Mehlhausen-HassoenD. (2021). Gender-specific differences in corporal punishment and children’s perceptions of their mothers’ and fathers’ parenting. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(15–16), NP8176–NP8199. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260519842172
54.
Mogro-WilsonC.LoomisA.ComanE.FifieldJ. (2019). African-American, Puerto-Rican, and other Hispanic fathers’ differential responses to a parenting intervention. Social Work in Public Health, 34(7), 583–595. https://doi.org/10.1080/19371918.2019.1635946
55.
MullerR. T.HunterJ. E.StollakG. (1995). The intergenerational transmission of corporal punishment: A comparison of social learning and temperament models. Child Abuse & Neglect, 19(11), 1323–1335. https://doi.org/10.1016/0145-2134(95)00103-F
NiuH.LiuL.WangM. (2018). Intergenerational transmission of harsh discipline: The moderating role of parenting stress and parent gender. Child Abuse & Neglect, 79, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.01.017
58.
ReichS. M.PennerE. K.DuncanG. J.AugerA. (2012). Using baby books to change new mothers’ attitudes about corporal punishment. Child Abuse & Neglect, 36(2), 108–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2011.09.017
59.
PaschallM. J.RingwaltC. L.FlewellingR. L. (2003). Effects of parenting, father absence, and affiliation with delinquent peers on delinquent behavior among African-American male adolescents. Adolescence, 38(149), 15–34.
PinderhughesE. E.DodgeK. A.BatesJ. E.PettitG. S.ZelliA. (2000). Discipline responses: Influences of parents’ socioeconomic status, ethnicity, beliefs about parenting, stress, and cognitive-emotional processes. Journal of Family Psychology, 14(3), 380–400. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.14.3.380
62.
RodriguezC. M.LeeS. J.WardK. P. (2021). Underlying mechanisms for racial disparities in parent-child physical and psychological aggression and child abuse risk. Child Abuse & Neglect, 117, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105089
63.
RodriguezC. M.SilviaP. J.GonzalezS.ChristlM. E. (2018). Disentangling the cycle: Potential mediators and moderators in the intergenerational transmission of parent–child aggression. Child Maltreatment, 23(3), 254–268. https://doi.org/10.1177/107755951876757
64.
RodriguezC. M.WittigS. M. O.SilviaP. J. (2020). Refining social-information processing theory: Predicting maternal and paternal parent-child aggression risk longitudinally. Child Abuse & Neglect, 107, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104563
65.
SimonsR. L.BeamanJ.CongerR. D.ChaoW. (1993). Childhood experience, conceptions of parenting, and attitudes of spouse as determinants of parental behavior. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 55(1), 91–106. https://doi.org/10.2307/352961
66.
SocolarR. R. S. (1997). A classification scheme for discipline: Type, mode of administration, context. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 2(4), 355–364. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1359-1789(97)00021-9
67.
StrausM. A. (2001). Beating the devil out of them: Corporal punishment in American families and its effects on children. Transaction Publishers.
68.
StrausM. A.FauchierA. (2007). Manual for the dimensions of discipline inventory. University of New Hampshire.
69.
SuD.ToureD.DoK.RamosA. K. (2019). Assessing racial and ethnic differences in attitudes toward the use of physical discipline in parenting: A mixed-methods approach. Journal of Social Service Research, 45(4), 455–465. https://doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2018.1480570
70.
TaylorC. A.HamvasL.ParisR. (2011). Perceived instrumentality and normativeness of corporal punishment use among Black mothers. Family Relations, 60(1), 60–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2010.00633.x
71.
TaylorC. A.HamvasL.RiceJ.NewmanD. L.DeJongW. (2011). Perceived social norms, expectations, and attitudes toward corporal punishment among an urban community sample of parents. Journal of Urban Health, 88(2), 254–269. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-011-9548-7
72.
TaylorC. A.McKassonS.HoyG.DeJongW. (2017). Parents’ primary professional sources of parenting advice moderate predictors of parental attitudes toward corporal punishment. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 26(2), 652–663. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-016-0586-3
73.
ThomasK. A.DettlaffA. J. (2011). African American families and the role of physical discipline: Witnessing the past in the present. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 21(8), 963–977. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2011.588537
74.
WalkerC. S.StearnsM.McKinneyC. (2018). Effect of parental corporal punishment on endorsement of its use: Moderated mediation by parent gender and attitudes toward corporal punishment. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(13–14), 6745–6768. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518819878
75.
WangM.NiuH.LiuL. (2021). Intergenerational transmission of corporal punishment: The independent and interactive moderating role of children’s negative affectivity and effortful control. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(9–10), NP4588–NP4610. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518794513
WidomC. S.WilsonH. W. (2015). Intergenerational transmission of violence. In LindertJ.LevavI. (Eds.), Violence and mental health (pp. 27–45). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8999-8_2
78.
WitteK. (1992). Putting the fear back into fear appeals: The extended parallel process model. Communication Monographs, 59(4), 329–349. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637759209376276
79.
WolfJ. P.KeppleN. J. (2019). Individual-and county-level religious participation, corporal punishment, and physical abuse of children: An exploratory study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 34(19), 3983–3994. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260516674197
