A Randomized Controlled Trial Examining the Efficacy of a Brief Online Intervention to Change Caregivers’ Attitudes Toward and Use of Spanking

Abstract

Spanking is commonly used by parents in the United States, despite research indicating that spanking is detrimental for children. Widely accessible interventions are needed to provide information about safer and more effective discipline strategies. This study used a randomized controlled trial to examine the efficacy of a brief (20 min) online intervention (Play Nicely) to reduce caregivers’ favorable attitudes toward and use of spanking in a low-income U.S. sample (n = 107) recruited from a midwestern pediatric primary care clinic. The study also examined whether there were differences in treatment effects as well as perceptions of the intervention’s cultural sensitivity between white and black caregivers. Participants in the treatment group showed greater declines in favorable attitudes toward spanking from pretest to posttest and from pretest to 1-month follow-up compared to the control group. There was no significant difference between conditions in caregivers’ reported use of spanking from pretest to follow-up. Moreover, there were no differences in outcomes or reported perceptions of the intervention’s cultural acceptability between white participants and black participants. Play Nicely may be a promising and easily accessible intervention to change caregivers’ favorable attitudes toward spanking. Moreover, the present study indicates that the intervention may be equally effective for caregivers from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.