title: Corporal punishment in rural Colombian families: prevalence, family structure and socio-demographic variables.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To reveal the prevalence of corporal punishment in a rural area of Colombia and its correlates to family structure and other socio-demographic variables.
  
  
  METHODS
  A survey about childrearing and childcare was developed for this study, including a specific question about corporal punishment that was developed based on the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS). Family structure was categorized as follows, based on previous literature: 'nuclear family,' 'single parent' family, 'extended family,' 'simultaneous family' and 'composed family.'
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-one percent of the parents surveyed admitted they had used corporal punishment of their children as a disciplinary strategy. The type of family structure, the number of children living at home, the age of the children, the gender of the parent who answered the survey, and the age and gender of the partner were significant predictors of corporal punishment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Family structure is an important variable in the understanding of corporal punishment, especially in regard to nuclear families that have a large number of children and parents who started their parental role early in life.
authors.affiliation: Universidad de La Sabana, Department of Psychology, Campus Universitario Puente del Común, Km,7 autopista Norte de Bogotá, Chía, Colombia.
authors.forename: Martha Rocío
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: González
authors.affiliation: Universidad de La Sabana, Department of Psychology, Campus Universitario Puente del Común, Km,7 autopista Norte de Bogotá, Chía, Colombia.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Trujillo
authors.affiliation: Resarch Group on Child and Adolescent Victimization (GReVIA), Universitat de Barcelona, Passeig Vall d'Hebron, 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Noemí
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pereda
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002668:Child Rearing / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003105:Colombia; D017579:Domestic Violence / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011678:Punishment / Q000523:psychology*; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Child victimization; Corporal; Family structure; Family violence; Physical; Punishment