title: Corporal punishment and youth externalizing behavior in Santiago, Chile.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Corporal punishment is still widely practiced around the globe, despite the large body of child development research that substantiates its short- and long-term consequences. Within this context, this paper examined the relationship between parental use of corporal punishment and youth externalizing behavior with a Chilean sample to add to the growing empirical evidence concerning the potential relationship between increased corporal punishment and undesirable youth outcomes across cultures.
  
  
  METHODS
  Analysis was based on 919 adolescents in Santiago, Chile. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the extent to which parents' use of corporal punishment and positive family measures were associated with youth externalizing behavior. Furthermore, the associations between self-reported externalizing behavior and infrequent, as well as frequent, use of corporal punishment were investigated to understand how varying levels of parental use of corporal punishment were differently related to youth outcomes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both mothers' and fathers' use of corporal punishment were associated with greater youth externalizing behavior. Additionally, increases in positive parenting practices, such as parental warmth and family involvement, were met with decreases in youth externalizing behavior when controlling for youth demographics, family socioeconomic status, and parents' use of corporal punishment. Finally, both infrequent and frequent use of corporal punishment were positively associated with higher youth problem behaviors, though frequent corporal punishment had a stronger relationship with externalizing behavior than did infrequent corporal punishment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Parental use of corporal punishment, even on an occasional basis, is associated with greater externalizing behavior for youth while a warm and involving family environment may protect youth from serious problem behaviors. Therefore, findings of this study add to the growing evidence concerning the negative consequences of corporal punishment for youth outcomes.
authors: Michigan State University School of Social Work, 254 Baker Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
authors: Julie
authors: J
authors: Ma
authors: Yoonsun
authors: Y
authors: Han
authors: Andrew
authors: A
authors: Grogan-Kaylor
authors: Jorge
authors: J
authors: Delva
authors: Marcela
authors: M
authors: Castillo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002677:Chile; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004644:Emotions; D005219:Father-Child Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D011678:Punishment / Q000523:psychology*; D012044:Regression Analysis