Parental Discipline and Abuse Potential Affects on Child Depression, Anxiety, and

Attributions
Author(s): Christina M. Rodriguez
Source: Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 65, No. 4 (Nov., 2003), pp. 809-817
Published by: National Council on Family Relations
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3599892
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 CHRISTINAM. RODRIGUEZ
ParentalDisciplineandAbusePotentialAffectson Child
Depression,Anxiety,andAttributions
The currentstudyinvestigateddifferencesin chil-
dren's emotionalfunctioningas a productof their
parents' reporteddisciplinarypracticesand child
abuse potential. Families with no knownhistory
of abuse were recruitedto ascertainwhetherde-
pressogenic attributionalstyle and depressiveor
anxious symptomatologywas evidentin children
of parentswho used harsherphysicalpunishment
and who had higher abuse potential. Forty-two
New Zealand children ages 8-12 participated
with their parents. Child-reportmeasuresof de-
pression, anxiety, and attributionalstyle were
compared with parents' responses on physical
discipline scenarios and child abuse potential.
Children'sanxietysymptomswere higherin those
childrenwhoseparentsobtainedhigherabusepo-
tentialscores and had harsherdisciplinepractic-
es. Children's depressive symptomsand some
components of maladaptive attributionalstyle
were also found infamilies withhigherabusepo-
tential.Resultssuggest emotionaldifficultiessim-
ilar to those of maltreatedchildreneven without
identifiableabuse.
Since the recognitionin 1962 of the seriousness
of child physical abuse (Kempe, Silverman,
Steele, Droegemueller,& Silver,1962), childmal-
University of Utah, Departmentof EducationalPsychology,
1705 East Campus Center Drive, Room 327, Salt Lake
City, UT 84112-9255 (rodriguez@ed.utah.edu).
Key Words: child anxiety, child attributional style, child
depression, child maltreatment,corporalpunishment,phys-
ical discipline.
Journalof Marriageand Family65 (November2003): 809-817
University of Utah
treatmenthas received heightened media and
scholarly attention.Abuse estimates soared fol-
lowing the implementationof mandatoryreport-
ing laws in the UnitedStatesduringthe 1960sand
1970s (cf. Lindsey, 1994). Moreover,anonymous
surveys demonstratethe virtuallyuniversalprac-
tice of parentalphysicaldisciplineof childrenand
even more severe parent-childviolence.
The media typically spotlightthe most brutal
and fatal instancesof child abuse,neglectingthat
most cases of maltreatment emergefrom the rou-
tine practice of physical discipline strategies.
Physical abuse often results from an unintended
escalation while administeringphysical punish-
ment for perceivedchild transgressions(Herren-
kohl, Herrenkohl,& Egolf, 1983), and maltreat-
ment is often conceptualizedas on a continuum
with physicaldiscipline(Rodriguez& Sutherland,
1999; Whipple& Richey, 1997). Althoughphys-
ical disciplineand child abuse can be considered
variantsof parentalaggression,abusivebehavior
is generallydeemedunacceptable,whereaspublic
opinionregardingcorporalpunishmentis clearly
divided.This debateover the usefulnessof phys-
ical punishmenthas persistedfor generationsde-
spite supportfrom experts (e.g., Straus, 2001a,
2001b)regardingthe needto discontinueall forms
of family violence. In light of calls to end all le-
galizedformsof corporalpunishmenttowardchil-
dren (e.g., Hammarberg& Newell, 2002), re-
searchers must address this controversy over
physical punishmentby compiling furtherevi-
dence regarding the immediate and long-term
functioning of children receiving any physical
809
810
punishment.The risk factorsare consideredsim-
ilar for both child physical abuse and physical
punishment(Straus,1983).Consequently,it is im-
portantto ascertainwhetherthe effects of physical
abuse and physicaldisciplineoverlap.
To date, the evidence indicatesthatchild mal-
treatmentis characterizedas detrimentalto vic-
tims, resultingin both short-termand long-term
sequelaein psychosocialand cognitive function-
ing (e.g., Fantazzo, 1990; Starr& Wolfe, 1991).
Thus physicallyabusedchildrenare more likely
than nonabused children to demonstratesuch
characteristicsas oppositionality,behaviorprob-
lems, depression,fearfulness,social withdrawal,
and lower self-esteem.For example,abusedchil-
drenwerefoundto be morelikely to displayhigh-
er levels of depressivesymptomatologyandhope-
lessnessas well as lowerlevels of self-esteemthan
comparisongroups (Kazdin, Moser, Colbus, &
Bell, 1985). Another study confirmedincreased
depression and hopelessness in children with
abuse historiesas well as a tendencytowardan
external locus of control (Allen & Tarnowski,
1989). Moreover,a more maladaptive,depresso-
genic attributionalstyle was reportedfor abused
children (Cerezo & Frias, 1994). Thus children
who are victims of abuse display many signs re-
flective of internalizingdisorders.
Some indications in the research, however,
pointto negativeoutcomesensuingfromcorporal
punishmentin the absence of parentalbehaviors
injuriousenoughto qualifyas abusive(e.g., Straus
& Kantor,1994). Childmaltreatment researchhas
often relied on researchdesigns that assess chil-
dren afterthe fact when confirmedabuse has al-
readyoccurred.Retrospectiveresearchstrategies,
however,are typicallysubjectto recallbiasesand
errors. It remains unclear whether problematic
symptomsmanifestedin some abusedchildrenac-
tually appearin nonclinicalsamples of children
who have receivedless seriousforms of parental
aggression,such as physical punishment.Theo-
retically, some of the emotionaland behavioral
difficultiesassociatedwith physical child abuse
may develop primarilyas a functionof parents'
harsherdisciplinarystyles and attitudes.Thusthe
difficultiesexperiencedby childrenmay differde-
pendingon whetherthey grow up with morever-
sus less physicaldiscipline.
Researchhas indeed supporteda relationship
betweenchildhoodhistoryof harshdisciplineand
adultpsychopathology(Holmes& Robins, 1988),
althoughby using retrospectiveresearchdesigns.
Anotherstudydemonstratedthatthe more severe
Journal of Marriage and Family
the disciplineexperiencedby the child, the more
aggressivelythe child behaves (i.e., externalizing
behaviorproblems;Weiss,Dodge, Bates,& Pettit,
1992), althoughthese researchersdid not find a
relationshipbetweenphysicaldisciplineandinter-
nalizing behaviorproblems.Anotherstudy sup-
porteddisciplineas a significantpredictorof be-
havior problems in children (Brenner & Fox,
1998). One dissertationindicatedhigher depres-
sion and anxietysymptomsfor those childrencat-
egorizedin high disciplinerisk groups(Dingwall,
1997).
Yet noticeablymoreresearch,as well as public
discussion,has centeredon the influenceof phys-
ical disciplineleadingto aggressiveand external-
izing behaviorproblemsvia social learning.The
preponderance of researchliteratureties corporal
punishmentto aggressivebehavior(e.g., Straus,
2001b), whereasthe associationof physicalpun-
ishmentwith internalizingproblemsremainsless
apparentin the literature.Althoughthe connection
between physical discipline and aggression is
clearlymeaningfulto both family and society,re-
searchcontinuesto overlookits associationwith
the emotionallife of the child. Anecdotally,we
hear of children'ssubjectivereportsof distressat
physicaldiscipline(e.g., Willow & Hyder,1998),
although actual empiricalresearchinvestigating
the child's internal experience of discipline is
lacking.
Whereasboth child and adolescentboys re-
portedly demonstratemore disruptivebehavior
and externalizingdifficultiescomparedwith girls
(e.g., Crijnen,Achenbach,& Verhulst,1997),sev-
eral studies of prepubertalchildrenhave not de-
tected gender differencesin depressionor attri-
butional style (e.g., Joiner & Wagner, 1995;
Thompson,Kaslow, Weiss, & Nolen-Hoeksema,
1998). Indeed,an interestingline of inquiryhas
begunto investigatethe emergenceof genderdif-
ferencesin depressionand anxietyduringadoles-
cence (Hayward& Sanborn,2002). Thus, com-
paringthe internalizingprocessesfor prepubertal
boys andgirls growingup withharshphysicaldis-
ciplinarianswould be meaningful.
Some componentsof the internalizingdomain
mirroringthose drawn from the child maltreat-
mentliterature(includingdepression,anxiety,and
attributionalstyle) may be particularlyimportant
to investigatein childrenreceivingphysicalpun-
ishment. Although some researchhas included
symptomsof depressionand anxiety, depresso-
genic attributionalstyle-a risk factorfor depres-
sion as conceptualizedby Abramsonand col-
Parental Discipline and Child Functioning 811

leagues (Abramson,Metalsky, & Alloy, 1989; TABLE 1. DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE

Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale, 1978)-has (N = 42)

SAMPLE
been relativelyneglectedin researchon the phys- Characteristics % or M n or SD
ical discipline of children. Maladaptiveattribu-
Parentgender
tions, as delineatedin the learned helplessness
model of depression,could potentiallydevelopin Mothers 93% 39
Fathers 7% 3
response to uncontrollablephysical discipline,
Parentage 38.67 5.43
which may in turnlead to depressiveor anxious
Child gender
symptomatologyin children.Further,of particular
interestin the currentstudy was the element of Girls 33% 14
internallocus of control,given thatfindingsin the Boys 67% 28
maltreatment literature(Allen& Tarnowski,1989) Child age 10 years, 1 year,
11 months 3 months
suggestthatphysicaldisciplineis likely to be per-
ceived as outside of the child's control.In addi- Ethnicity
tion, researchon attributionalstyle has concen- Pakeha 88.1% 37
Maori 2.4% 1
tratedon children'sexplanationof both positive Other 9.5% 4
and negative events in their lives, with support
Partnered
acrosssamplesthatboth are relevantto children's
Yes 76% 32
depression(Gladstone& Kaslow, 1996; Joiner& No 24% 10
Wagner,1995; Thompsonet al., 1998). Both are No. of children in home 2.81
relevantas well in maltreatedchildren(Kress & 1.06
Annual family income ($)
Vandenberg,1998; Runyon& Kenny,2002).
The currentstudy investigatedseveral symp- < 14,999 10% 4
15,000-29,999 34% 14
toms linked to internalizingdimensionsin an at- 24%
30,000-44,999 10
temptto determinewhethera nonclinicalsample >45,000 32% 13
of childrenreceiving physical disciplinedemon-
stratesdifficultiestypically associatedwith child
abuse victims. Childrenwhose parentshold more
physicallyabusiveattitudesandthose who engage gradelevel receivingconsentforms.Caregiversin
in harsherdiscipline were comparedwith lower this largerstudy were parentswho returnedcon-
risk parents.Familieswith no establishedhistory sentformssenthomefromtheirchild'sclassroom,
of abuse were selectedin orderto assess whether with abouthalf of all distributedforms returned
increaseddepressiveor anxious symptomatology to the school. All familiesin the largerstudywith
was detected in children whose parents had a a child betweenthe ages of 8 and 12 were invited
harsher discipline style and abusive attitudes. to participatein the currentstudy. Nearly every
Moreover,to examinehow disciplineattitudesand child in the definedage range was availablefor
practices may relate to how children explain participationat the time of his or her parents'par-
events in their own lives, children'sattributional ticipation.Sampledemographicsappearin Table
style was also examined,specificallytheirexpla- 1, with the sampleinvolvingpredominantly moth-
nations for both positive and negative events as ers of Pakeha(New Zealandersof Europeande-
well as how they internalizeresponsibility,thatis, scent) children.Approximatelyone fourthof the
locus of control. childrenin the samplewereliving in single-parent
homes (parentswithouta partner).The obtained
METHOD
sample is comparableto the ethnic distribution
and family composition expected for Dunedin,
and the annualfamily income, in New Zealand
Participants dollars, is comparablewith the nationalincome
Forty-twochildrenand theirparentswere recruit- distributionreportedby the New ZealandCensus
ed fromschoolsin Dunedin,New Zealand,as part (Departmentof StatisticsNew Zealand,1992).
of a largerstudyof parentsnot identifiedas abu-
sive (see Rodriguez& Sutherland,1999); the fo-
ParentMeasures
cus was on disciplinebeliefs and abusepotential.
Two randomlyselected schools in Dunedinwere The Child Abuse Potential Inventory (Milner,
approached,with one classroomper appropriate 1986) is a 160-itemself-reportmeasureinvolving
812
attitudesand beliefs believed to be predictiveof
physical child abuse potential.One of the most
frequentlyused measuresto screen for physical
abuse, the Child Abuse PotentialInventoryas-
sesses parental characteristicsassociated with
physicallyabusiveparents,althoughthe measure
does not tap their specific behavioralresponses
while deliveringdiscipline.Each item presentsa
statementwith which subjectsindicateagreement
or disagreement.Of these items, 77 contributeto
the abuse scale score and its six factors,and the
remainingitems serve either as distractors/fillers
or providea meansof detectingdistortionbiases.
With respectto internalconsistencyof the Child
Abuse PotentialInventory,correctedsplit-halfre-
liabilitywas reportedas .96, and Kuder-Richard-
son reliability coefficient was reported as .92
(Milner).Retestreliabilitiesrangedfrom .91 after
1 day to .75 after3 months(Milner).As a screen-
ing tool for abusive behavior,studies have sug-
gested a correct classificationrate of 89.2% of
confirmedchild abusersand96.3%of controlsub-
jects (Milner,Gold, & Wimberley,1986).
Discipline Scenarios. To supplementthe Child
Abuse PotentialInventorywith a measurespecif-
ically gearedtowarddisciplinebehavior,parents
also read 12 briefscenariosdepictingphysicaldis-
cipline of a young child 8 years or younger.Sce-
narioswere developedfor anotherstudy(see Rod-
riguez& Sutherland,1999),basedon consultation
with New Zealandchild protectiveserviceswork-
ers, and were designedto vary in termsof three
specified severity levels of discipline, with two
punishmenttechniquesat each level: mild(slapon
hand,pokingthe child);moderate(spanking,pull-
ing the child up by the arm);and borderlineabu-
sive (hittingwith an objectsuchas a belt or wood-
en spoon).The finalcategory,borderlineabusive,
reflecteda severitylevel withperceivedambiguity
for parentsaboutwhetherthe behaviorwould be
abusive although child welfare indicated these
wouldprobablywarrantfurtherinvestigation.Sce-
narios were intentionallycreatedto portraydis-
cipline techniquesthat would not be obviously
abusive,whichseveralearlierreportshaveutilized
(e.g., Muller,Caldwell,& Hunter,1993), because
nearlyall respondentswouldconsiderextremevi-
olence (e.g., burning)inappropriate,therebyre-
ducing variabilityand increasingsocially desir-
able responses.In addition,half of the scenarios
depicted the children as misbehaving(i.e., per-
ceived culpability),such as punchinga sick sib-
ling, whereasthe othersix scenariosportrayedthe
Journal of Marriage and Family
child as blameless (e.g., accidentallydropping
toys in a newly cleanedarea).Whenchildrenare
consideredto be misbehaving,they aremorelike-
ly to be blamed for disciplinedecisions (Muller
et al.). Scenarioswere purposelyconstructedto be
gender-neutral with regardto both the child and
adultin the scenario,as this factorcan effect rat-
ings (e.g., Herzberger& Tennen,1985).Two sam-
ple scenariosare as follows:
* Borderline abusive/nonculpable:A child is
helping a parentwash dishes. While the child
is dryingone of the nice chinaplates,the soapy
dish slips and falls, breakingon the floor.The
parent strikes the child several times on the
back and buttockswith a belt, saying the child
shouldbe more careful.
* Mild/culpable:A parentis watchingtelevision
and the kids are bickeringon a nearby sofa.
Havingalreadyaskedthemto stop fighting,the
parent turns around and slaps the children's
knees, telling them to stop fighting.
Parentswere askedto rate each scenarioon a
7-pointLikertscale, reportingon how frequently
they use similarphysicalpunishmenton theirown
children(Practices), from 1 (not at all) to 7 (of-
ten). To generatea total score acrossthe 12 sce-
narios, subscores on each of the three levels
(based on the four scenarios per level) were
weighted parallelingthe 7-point severity level;
mild scenarioswere weighted1, moderatescenar-
ios weighted4, and borderlineabusivescenarios
weighted7. In this manner,highertotal scoreson
practicesrepresentmore severe disciplinebehav-
ior.
ChildMeasures
The Children'sAttributionalStyle Questionnaire
(Kaslow,Tannenbaum, & Seligman,1978; Selig-
man et al., 1984) is a 48-item forced-choicemea-
sure designedto assess attributionalstyle in chil-
dren ages 8 to 18 years. Childrenselect one of
two optionsthatbest explainswhy a hypothetical
situationin each item would have happenedto
them. The hypotheticalsituationsvary along the
three attributionaldimensionsof internality,sta-
bility, andglobality,with half of the itemsinvolv-
ing negativeoutcomesandhalfpositiveoutcomes.
For example, there are eight internal-positive
items andeight internal-negative items.This mea-
sureyields dimensionalscoresacrosspositiveand
negative events (InternalTotal,Stable Total,and
Parental Discipline and Child Functioning
Global Total);a score across all positive events
for a Positive Total;a score across all negative
events for a Negative Total; as well as a Total
Composite score calculated by subtractingthe
NegativeTotalscorefromthe PositiveTotalscore.
Lower Positive Total scores and higherNegative
Total scores correspondto more maladaptiveat-
tributionalstyles; lower InternalTotalscores cor-
respondto externalizinglocus of control.The Pos-
itive and Negative totals indicate attributions
dependingon the valenceof the situation.Forthe
present study, the Children'sAttributionalStyle
PositiveTotaland NegativeTotalscoreswere ex-
amined, along with the more specific index for
locus of control,InternalTotal.
With respect to psychometriccharacteristics,
moderateinternalconsistencyhas been reported
for the Children'sAttributionalStyle Question-
naireTotalComposite,Positive Total,and Nega-
tive Total scores (.73, .71, and .66, respectively;
Seligmanet al., 1984). Temporalstabilityover 6
monthsrangesfrom .71 for the PositiveTotaland
.80 for the Negative Total(Seligmanet al.). The
TotalComposite,PositiveTotal,andNegativeTo-
tal has been correlatedwith indices of depression
(e.g., Thompsonet al., 1998), consistentwith the
learnedhelplessnessmodel.
The Children'sDepressionInventory(Kovacs,
1983, 1985) is a 27-item self-reportmeasure,the
most widely used instrumentgauging childhood
depressivesymptoms,and is suitablefor children
ages 8-17 years. Each item presentsthree state-
mentsrepresentinggradedlevels of depressivese-
verity,valuedfrom0 to 2. Highertotal scoresare
indicative of more severe depressive symptom-
atology. Kazdin (1990) reportedthat the Chil-
dren'sDepressionInventoryhas moderatetest-re-
test stability, high internal consistency, and
concurrentvalidity with other depressionmea-
sures. High coefficientalphashave been reported
for both childrenand adolescents,rangingfrom
.83 to .94 (Saylor,Finch,Spirito,& Bennett,1984;
Smucker,Craighead,Craighead,& Green, 1986).
The Children'sManifestAnxiety Scale-Re-
vised (Reynolds & Richmond,1978, 1985) is a
37-item self-reportmeasureof anxietysymptoms
for childrenages 6-19 years. Each item is pre-
sented in a yes/no format.The total score, indic-
ative of the overall anxiety level, is convertedto
a standardizedT-score that adjustsfor age and
gender differences.Nine items contributeto the
Lie scale, designedto detectsocial desirabilityre-
sponses.The Children'sManifestAnxietyScale-
Revised total score correlatesmore highly with
813
internalizingthanexternalizingbehaviors,and its
internalconsistencyis reportedat .82 (Reynolds,
1982; Reynolds& Richmond,1985).
Procedure
A convenient time for a session in the child's
home was arrangedby telephoneupon receiptof
a consent form. For parents,instructionsand in-
dividualitems for both the ChildAbuse Potential
Inventoryand the Practicesmeasure were pre-
sentedon a computerscreen,withthe 12 scenarios
appearingin randomorder.Parentsenteredall re-
sponsesto questionsanonymously,and to further
facilitateprivacy,their responsesdid not appear
on the computerscreenas they enteredthem.The
computerizedprocedureswere implementedin or-
der to maximizeparticipants'reportingaccuracy
and to minimize social desirabilityresponding.
While parents completed their portion of the
study,childrenwere takento a quietplace in their
home to completethe measures.The threeques-
tionnaireswere administeredin a counterbalanced
order.Items were read aloud to the child respon-
dents while they read along and wrote their an-
swers privatelyon a separateform. After com-
pleting the forms, the childrenwere given either
a $2 video rental coupon or a $2 video game
voucheras a token of appreciationfor their par-
ticipation.
RESULTS
All analyseswere conductedusing the SPSS 11.0
for Windowsstatisticalpackage.Meansand stan-
darddeviationswerecalculatedfor the totalscores
of the parentreportmeasures(Child Abuse Po-
tential Inventoryand the Practicesmeasure),as
well as the child questionnaires(Children'sDe-
pression Inventory,Children'sManifestAnxiety
Scale-Revised andChildren'sAttributional Style
Questionnaire).All obtainedmeanscoreson these
measureswere withinnormallimits (see Table2).
An examinationof demographicdifferenceson
the child reportmeasuresindicatedno significant
genderdifferenceson any of the three question-
naires(all p > .05). Similarly,no significantas-
sociationswere found between any of the three
child reportmeasuresand child age (all r > .05).
Insufficientvariabilityby ethnicitydid not allow
analysesfor this variable.Consequently,the full
sample was utilized without any covariatesre-
quiredin orderto examinedifferencesin parental
groupdisciplineattitudesand practices.
814
TABLE 2. MEANS AND STANDARDDEVIATIONSFOR TOTAL SAMPLEAND BY GROUPSAND GROUPDIFFERENCES
CHILDREPORTMEASURES(N = 42)
Total Sample High CAPI
M (SD) M (SD)
CDI total 9.29 (6.50) 11.86 (6.03)
CMAS-R total 50.00 (11.14) 55.24 (8.93)
CASQ Negative total 4.57 (4.49) 8.29 (2.87)
Positive total 12.69 (3.29) 11.76 (3.24)
Internaltotal 7.98 (1.94) 7.29 (1.42)
CAPI Abuse scale 100.38 (89.67)
Discipline practices1 67.22 (21.17)
Note: CAPI = Child Abuse PotentialInventory;CDI = Children'sDepressionInventory;CMAS-R = Children'sManifest
Anxiety Scale-Revised; CASQ = Children'sAttributionalStyle Questionnaire.
aMeanscore based on weighted sum across 12 scenarios.
*p <- .05. **p - .01. ***/) < .001.
Parentswere dividedby mediansplitbasedon
theirabusepotentialscores into two groups:high
Child Abuse PotentialInventoryand low Child
Abuse Potential Inventoryscorers, representing
parentsat high and low risk in termsof their at-
titudesandbeliefs predictiveof physicallyabusive
behavior. A multivariateanalysis of variance
(MANOVA) was conducted to determine be-
tween-groupdifferencesfor the following depen-
dent variables:Children'sDepressionInventory
total, Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale-Re-
vised total, and the Children'sAttributionalStyle
Questionnairedimensionsof interest,PositiveTo-
tal, Negative Total, and InternalTotal. Results
from this MANOVAwere significant,F(5, 36) =
498.7, p - .001. Subsequentanalyses(see Table
2 for means)indicatedthatthe two abusepotential
groups differed on the children's anxiety total
scores,F(1, 40) = 11.7,p < .001;depressiontotal
scores,F(1, 40) = 7.64, p < .01; andattributional
style InternalTotalscores, F(1, 40)= 5.94, p <
.01. Additionally,the two Child Abuse Potential
Inventorygroupswere marginallydifferenton the
attributional style PositiveTotal,F(1, 40) = 3.54,
p = .06. No significantdifferencesbetweenabuse
potentialgroupswere observedon the attribution-
al style NegativeTotalscores (p > .05).
Parentswere then also dividedby mediansplit
scores on their discipline scenarios practices
scores,whichrepresentsa behavioralindicationof
actualdisciplinepractices.High Practicesscorers
were those who engaged in harsherdiscipline
practicescomparedwith parentsin the Low Prac-
tices group. A MANOVAexaminingdifferences
between these two groups of parentsacross the
six dependentvariableswas significant,F(5, 36)
= 517.0,p < .001. A closerexaminationof which
Journal of Marriage and Family
ON
Low CAPI High Practices Low Practices
M (SD) M (SD) M (SD)
6.71 (6.03)** 11.38 (7.76) 7.19 (4.14)*
44.76 (10.81)*** 54.05 (11.83) 45.95 (8.94)**
7.71 (2.70) 8.05 (2.60) 7.95 (2.99)
13.62 (3.15) 12.38 (2.60) 13.00 (3.91)
8.67 (2.17)** 7.90 (1.55) 8.05 (2.31)
variables were significantly different between
High Practicesand Low Practicesgroupsdid not
findany significantdifferencesdue to attributional
style scores (all p > .05). Analysesindicatedsig-
nificant differences between the two practices
groups, however, on children's anxiety total
scores, F(l, 40) - 6.26, p < .01, and on chil-
dren'sdepressiontotal scores,F(1, 40) = 4.76, p
< .05.
DISCUSSION
The currentstudyexaminedwhetherparentswith
morephysicallyabusiveattitudesandharsherdis-
cipline practiceshad childrenwith more signs of
internalizingsymptomsthanchildrenof lowerrisk
parents.Forty-twoparent-childdyadsfroma New
Zealandsampleof childrenwere assessedin their
homes.A nonclinicalsamplewas targetedin order
to determinewhetherdifferencesin childhoodde-
pression,anxiety,and attributionalstyle wouldbe
evidentin families with no establishedhistoryof
maltreatment.Currentfindingssuggest some in-
terestingdifferencesin childrenof parentswho
use moreseverephysicaldisciplineandholdmore
attitudessupportiveof physicalabuse.
Most consistencywas found in the resultson
children'sself-reportedanxiety.Childrenof par-
ents with more physically abusive attitudesand
beliefs, as measuredby the ChildAbusePotential
Inventory,reportedmore anxioussymptomatolo-
gy thanchildrenwith parentswho had low scores
on the ChildAbusePotentialInventory.Similarly,
childrenof parentsusing less severe physicaldis-
ciplinetechniquesreportedloweranxietythandid
childrenof harsherdisciplinarians.Similarfind-
ings of higher anxiety in childrenwere obtained
Parental Discipline and Child Functioning
fromhigh disciplineparentgroupsin previousre-
search (Dingwall, 1997). Therefore,the current
findings provide evidence that childrengrowing
up in families with more severe discipline may
experiencemore anxietysymptoms.
Similarly,parentswho held more physically
abusiveattitudesalso hadchildrenwho weremore
likely to reportdepressivesymptomsthanchildren
of parentswith low child abusepotential.Consis-
tent with this finding,parentswho werepracticing
moreharshdisciplinealso hadchildrenwithhigh-
er depressionscores. Such results parallelthose
encounteredin the maltreatmentliterature(e.g.,
Kazdinet al., 1985), suggestingthatchildrenev-
idence signs of depressionand anxiety,both in-
ternalizingdifficulties,even when physicalabuse
has not been identified.
With respect to depressogenic attributional
style, which is theorizedas a potentialrisk factor
for depression,the findingswere more complex.
No differencesemergedon children'sattributional
style based on their parents'classificationon se-
verity of parentalpracticeof discipline.Children
did appearto externalize-that is, feel less in con-
trol-if they were growingup with a parentwho
had more physically abusive attitudes.Although
not statisticallysignificant,an interestingtrend
was observed:the high risk parentshad children
with more maladaptiveattributions,particularly
for positive events. Although attributionalstyle
for both positive and negative events has been
shown to relate to children's depression (e.g.,
Joiner& Wagner,1995; Thompsonet al., 1998),
in the currentstudy the maladaptiveattributional
tendencytowardnegative events did not appear
relevant.The presentfindingssupportthose of an
earlierstudyinvolvingabusedchildren,indicating
that these children exhibit an externallocus of
control (Allen & Tarnowski,1989). Moreover,
such an externallocus of controlcould contribute
to a sense of powerlessness and hopelessness
(Abramsonet al., 1989). Resultsfrom the current
studysuggestthatwhenfaced with uncontrollable
physical discipline, childrenmay be inclined to
develop maladaptiveexplanatorycognitions.Giv-
en the mixed resultson attributional style, further
investigation of the of
characteristics locus of con-
trol andwhatexplanatoryapproachis relevantfor
childrenreceivingphysicalpunishmentwould be
intriguing.
The presentfindingsreflect some differences
in resultsbetweenparentalattitudesand parental
practices,consistentwith the truismthatattitudes
are not necessarilyrepresentative of actualbehav-
815
ior. Consequently,futureresearchdesigns should
incorporatemultiple approaches,examiningpar-
ents' disciplinarybehavioras well as theirphilo-
sophical approach.For example, perhapsdiffer-
ences in child depressionbased on the parent's
Child Abuse PotentialInventoryscore imply that
childrenare more depressedin the context of a
largerbelief systemadoptedby theirparents,rath-
er thanthat theirdepressionis relatedto the par-
ents' concretebehaviors.Unfortunately,such nu-
ances can only be evaluated if future studies
employ comprehensiveassessments of parents'
disciplineapproaches.
Futureresearchshould also addresssome of
the limitationsof the currentstudy, and should
especiallyinvolve a larger,moregender-balanced
sample to confirmthe absence of gender differ-
ences in internalizingprocesses,as found in the
currentstudy as well as in earlierresearch(e.g.,
Thompsonet al., 1998). The currentvolunteer
sample likely representsthe most internallymo-
tivatedfamilies,and thus moreheterogenous,po-
tentiallyexternallymotivated,samplesshouldbe
sought. Moreover,because these measureswere
designed for North American use, this work
shouldbe replicatedwith a U.S. sample,as there
may be limitationson the use of such measuresin
a non-U.S. sample(Rodriguez& Pehi, 1998).
The present sample intentionallyinvolved a
group of families not identifiedas abusive. An-
other researchstep could comparechildrenwho
have neverbeen identifiedas abusedwithchildren
for whom abuse has been substantiated.Using a
suitable comparisonsample and controllingfor
demographicvariables,researcherscouldexamine
whetherthese childrendifferwith regardto inter-
nalizing problems.Ideally, two sources of infor-
mationwould againbe utilized,separatingthe in-
dices of child internalizingdifficultiesfromthose
assessing parentdiscipline,in orderto minimize
sourcebias.
Finally, the currentstudy is limited by diffi-
culties intrinsicto its researchdesign.Decadesof
researchon the associationbetweencorporalpun-
ishmentandaggressionhave sufferedfromsimilar
drawbacksusing cross-sectionalsamples(Straus,
2001b). Although some internalizingdifficulties
weredetectedin thoseusingharsherparentingdis-
cipline practicesin the currentresearch,it is the-
oretically possible that parents respond more
harshlyas a consequenceof their children'sex-
hibiting internalizingproblems,or as a conse-
quence of some other,unidentifiedvariable.As
the investigationof internalizingprocessesin chil-
816
dren experiencingcorporalpunishmentmatures,
futureresearchshould incorporatea longitudinal
design, assessing changes in emotionalfunction-
ing of childrenover time, as well as changes in
parentaldisciplinein responseto child behavior.
Obviously, such designs are burdensomefor a
numberof reasons, althoughultimatelysuch an
avenuecould respondto the realitiesof how pa-
rentalphysicaldisciplineevolves.
Nonetheless,the results of the present study
provide preliminary indications that parents'
physicalpunishmentrelatesto some aspectsof a
child's emotionalwell-beingeven withoutidenti-
fied physicalabuse.Hencethe currentfindingsex-
tend the researchon corporalpunishmentinto the
realmof internalizingdifficultiesbeyondwhathas
alreadybeen implicatedfor childrenlearningto
become violent adults. Longitudinalresearchin
the future may reveal that nonabusivephysical
disciplinemay adverselyinfluencethe short-and
long-termemotionalfunctioningof children;so-
phisticated research may even pinpoint which
symptomsof psychopathologyappearonly in re-
sponse to physicalchild abuse incidents.Contin-
ued researchon parents'use of physicaldiscipline
has implicationsfor moreseriousformsof family
violence, given that corporalpunishmentis often
a precursorfor child abuse.Futureworkclarifying
these issues would provide guidance to profes-
sionals and parentsalike as we continuethe de-
bate over the use of corporalpunishmentin the
home.
NOTE
Thanks are extended to the Otago Children and Young
Persons Service of Dunedin, New Zealand, for their in-
valuable assistance in constructing the scenarios used in
this study.
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