NCJ Number
152552
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 18 Issue: 12 Dated: (December 1994) Pages: 1011-1020
Date Published
1994
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study examined the association between verbal and physical punishments in child-rearing, the extent to which child- rearing violence in one generation is repeated in the next, and the effect of believing one was abused on subsequent child- rearing behavior.
Abstract
Data were taken from a national random-digit-dial telephone survey of 801 adult American men and women. Respondents were questioned about the punishment they received as children and whether they believe they were abused. They were also asked about whether they currently had children under 18 years of age living at home, and how they disciplined them. Individuals were asked to recall how often they were yelled at and how often they were spanked or physically disciplined as children. Univariate analysis was used to examine the distribution of responses. Cross-tabulations were used initially to address the research questions, using the chi-square test for the discrete independent variables. Multiple regression was called for to control for potential confounding. Analysis showed that verbal and physical discipline are not substitutes, but, instead, are commonly used together. Parents who yell frequently are the ones most likely to hit frequently, and vice versa. In addition, both physical and verbal violence appear to be transgenerational. Respondents who were spanked (yelled at) frequently as children are more prone to frequently spank (yell at) their own children. Still, most people are able to break out of the transgenerational cycle of punitive child-rearing. This outcome may be found particularly among those who consider themselves to have been abused. 4 tables and 44 references