An analysis of the physical punishment component of a parent training program.
One component of a well-researched, standardized parent training program is to spank children for escape from time-out. The contribution of the spanking component to compliance acquisition in a clinic analog setting was evaluated. Time-out duration and child disruption at time-out release were balanced across spank and no-spank ("barrier") conditions. Sixteen noncompliant, clinic-referred pre-school children participated. The data indicated that both spank and barrier procedures were equally effective at increasing compliance ratios. Physical punishment did not appear to be a critical component. Given prior research, it was concluded that the enforcement of a minimum time-out duration is critical for compliance acquisition within the analog setting.
D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D002668:Child Rearing; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education*; D011678:Punishment; D012934:Social Isolation