A longitudinal examination of mothers' and fathers' social information processing biases and harsh discipline in nine countries.
This study examined whether parents' social information processing was related to their subsequent reports of their harsh discipline. Interviews were conducted with mothers (n = 1,277) and fathers (n = 1,030) of children in 1,297 families in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States), initially when children were 7 to 9 years old and again 1 year later. Structural equation models showed that parents' positive evaluations of aggressive responses to hypothetical childrearing vignettes at Time 1 predicted parents' self-reported harsh physical and nonphysical discipline at Time 2. This link was consistent across mothers and fathers, and across the nine countries, providing support for the universality of the link between positive evaluations of harsh discipline and parents' aggressive behavior toward children. The results suggest that international efforts to eliminate violence toward children could target parents' beliefs about the acceptability and advisability of using harsh physical and nonphysical forms of discipline.
Duke University.
Jennifer E
JE
Lansford
University of South Carolina.
Darren
D
Woodlief
University of South Carolina.
Patrick S
PS
Malone
Maseno University,Kenya.
Paul
P
Oburu
Rome University La Sapienza.
Concetta
C
Pastorelli
Duke University.
Ann T
AT
Skinner
University West,Sweden.
Emma
E
Sorbring
Chiang Mai University.
Sombat
S
Tapanya
Rome University La Sapienza.
Liliana Maria Uribe
LM
Tirado
University of Rome Foro Italico.
Arnaldo
A
Zelli
Hashemite University.
Suha M
SM
Al-Hassan
Ateneo de Manila University.
Liane Peña
LP
Alampay
Second University of Naples.
Dario
D
Bacchini
Rome University La Sapienza.
Anna Silvia
AS
Bombi
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Marc H
MH
Bornstein
Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Lei
L
Chang
Virginia Tech.
Kirby
K
Deater-Deckard
Rome University La Sapienza.
Laura
L
Di Giunta
Duke University.
Kenneth A
KA
Dodge
D002648:Child; D002668:Child Rearing / Q000523:psychology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D012938:Social Perception; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology*