Children's Perceptions of Maternal Hostility as a Mediator of the Link between Discipline and Children's Adjustment in Four Countries.
Using data from 195 dyads of mothers and children (age range = 8-12 years; M = 10.63) in four countries (China, India, the Philippines, and Thailand), this study examined children's perceptions of maternal hostility as a mediator of the links between physical discipline and harsh verbal discipline and children's adjustment. Both physical discipline and harsh verbal discipline had direct effects on mothers' reports of children's anxiety and aggression; three of these four links were mediated by children's perceptions of maternal hostility. In contrast, there were no significant direct effects of physical discipline and harsh verbal discipline on children's reports of their own anxiety and aggression. Instead, both physical discipline and harsh verbal discipline had indirect effects on the outcomes through children's perceptions of maternal hostility. We identified a significant interaction between perceived normativeness and use of harsh verbal discipline on children's perception of maternal hostility, but children's perception of the normativeness of physical discipline did not moderate the relation between physical discipline and perceived maternal hostility. The effects of harsh verbal discipline were more adverse when children perceived that form of discipline as being nonnormative than when children perceived that form of discipline as being normative. Results are largely consistent with a theoretical model positing that the meaning children attach to parents' discipline strategies is important in understanding associations between discipline and children's adjustment, and that cultural context is associated with children's interpretations of their parents' behavior.
Lansford
Jennifer E
JE
Duke University.
Malone
Patrick S
PS
Dodge
Kenneth A
KA
Chang
Lei
L
Chaudhary
Nandita
N
Tapanya
Sombat
S
Oburu
Paul
P
Deater-Deckard
Kirby
K
Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2000 Dec;3(4):199-221
11225737
Psychol Sci. 2007 Mar;18(3):233-9
17444920
Dev Psychopathol. 2007 Winter;19(1):227-42
17241492
Child Dev. 2001 Sep-Oct;72(5):1409-25
11699678
Parent Sci Pract. 2008 Jul 1;8(3):257-270
19898651
J Consult Clin Psychol. 1987 Oct;55(5):719-26
3454782
Aggress Behav. 2008 May-Jun;34(3):245-55
18085532
J Pers Soc Psychol. 1997 Feb;72(2):408-19
9107008
Child Abuse Negl. 1997 May;21(5):431-44
9158904
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1997 Aug;151(8):768-75
9265877
Psychol Rep. 1989 Jun;64(3 Pt 2):1140-2
2762458
Psychol Bull. 2002 Jul;128(4):539-79
12081081
Child Dev. 1995 Apr;66(2):402-15
7750373
Child Dev. 2010 Mar-Apr;81(2):487-502
20438455
J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2002 Mar;31(1):101-10
11845642
J Abnorm Psychol. 1993 Aug;102(3):395-403
8408951
Child Dev. 2008 Sep-Oct;79(5):1257-69
18826524
Child Dev. 2005 Nov-Dec;76(6):1234-46
16274437