The effect of corporal punishment and verbal abuse on delinquency: mediating mechanisms

Fathers' contributions to attachment in adolescence and adulthood: the moderating role of race, gender, income, and residential status

Fathers play a critical yet underappreciated role in adolescent development. To examine contributions of fathers' parenting to attachment in adolescence and adulthood, this longitudinal study followed 184 adolescents from ages 13-24. At age 13, adolescents reported on their fathers' parenting behavior and were observed in a father-teen conflict task; at ages 14 and 24, they completed the Adult Attachment Interview. Adolescents who lived with their father showed higher attachment security at age 14 (Cohen's d = .72), compared to those with non-residential fathers. Fathers' positive relatedness and support for teens' psychological autonomy predicted attachment security at age 14. Fathers' physical aggression predicted attachment insecurity in adolescence, whereas fathers' verbal aggression predicted insecurity in adulthood, illuminating developmental shifts. Pathways to security were moderated by father residential status, adolescent gender, and race. Findings underscore the importance of fathers' presence, autonomy support, and non-aggression in predicting adolescents' state of mind in close relationships.

The Impact of Harsh Parental Discipline and Emotional Warmth on Adolescent Problem Behaviors

Purpose

This study, grounded in Social Information Processing Theory, integrates emotional warmth and harsh discipline into a unified model to investigate their differential effects on adolescents' internalized and externalized problem behaviors, as well as to explore the potential divergences in the mediating role of inhibitory control.

Patients and Methods

Four hundred and twenty-eight adolescents completed validated scales of Egna Minnen av Barndoms Uppfostran (EMBU), Inhibitory Control and The Youth Self-Report (YSR), Data analysis was performed using SPSS 26.0 and Mplus7.4 to examine the relationship between harsh parental discipline, emotional warmth, adolescent inhibitory control, and internalized and externalized problem behaviors and the mediating effects.

Results

The present study revealed that (1) Harsh parental discipline negatively predicted both internalized and externalized problems in adolescents, while emotional warmth from fathers positively predicted internalized problem behaviors; (2) Inhibitory control acted as a mediator in the impact of harsh parental discipline on problem behaviors, while the mediating effect between paternal emotional warmth and internalization issues was not significant.

Conclusion

The impact of emotional warmth and harsh discipline on adolescent internalized and externalized problems varied. In families practicing a mixed parenting style, harsh discipline had a more significant effect on adolescents, primarily mediated through inhibitory control.

Polygenic risk and hostile environments: Links to stable and dynamic antisocial behaviors across adolescence

Adverse environments are linked to elevated youth antisocial behavior. However, this relation is thought to depend, in part, on genetic susceptibility. The present study investigated whether polygenic risk for antisociality moderates relations between hostile environments and stable as well as dynamic antisocial behaviors across adolescence. We derived two antisocial-linked polygenic risk scores (PRS) (N = 721) based on previous genome-wide association studies. Forms of antisocial behavior (nonaggressive conduct problems, physical aggression, social aggression) and environmental hostility (harsh parenting and school violence) were assessed at age 13, 15, and 17 years. Relations to individual differences stable across adolescence (latent stability) vs. time-specific states (timepoint residual variance) of antisocial behavior were assessed via structural equation models. Higher antisocial PRS, harsh parenting, and school violence were linked to stable elevations in antisocial behaviors across adolescence. We identified a consistent polygenic-environment interaction suggestive of differential susceptibility in late adolescence. At age 17, harsher parenting was linked to higher social aggression in those with higher antisocial PRS, and lower social aggression in those with lower antisocial PRS. This suggests that genetics and environmental hostility relate to stable youth antisocial behaviors, and that genetic susceptibility moderates home environment-antisocial associations specifically in late adolescence.

Different Instruments, Same Content? A Systematic Comparison of Child Maltreatment and Harsh Parenting Instruments

Child maltreatment and harsh parenting both include harmful actions by parents toward children that are physical (e.g., spanking, slapping) or emotional (e.g., threatening, yelling). The distinction between these two constructs, in meaning and measurement, is often unclear, leading to inconsistent research and policy. This study systematically identified, reviewed, and compared parent-reported child maltreatment (N = 7) and harsh parenting (N = 18) instruments. The overlap in parenting behaviors was 73%. All physical behaviors that were measured in harsh parenting instruments (e.g., spanking, beating up) were also measured in child maltreatment instruments. Unique physical behaviors measured in maltreatment instruments include twisting body parts and choking. All emotional behaviors in maltreatment instruments were included in harsh parenting instruments, and vice versa. Our findings suggest similar, but not identical, operationalizations of child maltreatment and harsh parenting. Our findings can help guide discussions on definitions, operationalizations, and their consequences for research on violence against children.

Effects of school connectedness on the relationship between child maltreatment and child aggressive behavior: A mediation analysis

BACKGROUND

Children growing up in a vulnerable and unstable family environment including child maltreatment, poor family functioning, and low social-economic status, are at higher risk of developing undesirable behavioral outcomes compared to peers in the general population. School life plays a critical role during the development of adolescents.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of school connectedness in the relationship between child maltreatment and aggressive behavior.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

This study employed the Fragile Family and Child Well-being Study - Year 15. The final analytic sample size is 2285 families.

METHODS

Mediation analyses were conducted to evaluate the impact of CPS on child aggressive behavior mediated by school connectedness using OLS regression with robust standard errors. The bootstrap was used to estimate the standard error of the indirect effect.

RESULTS

The total effect of CPS contact on child aggressive behaviors was 0.14 (p < .001). The direct effect of CPS contact on child aggressive behavior was 0.13 (p < .001). The indirect effect, that school connectedness significantly mediated the relationship between CPS and child aggressive behavior, was tested and found statistically significant (Coef. = 0.01, p < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Findings of the mediation model suggest that interventions targeted at improving school connectedness among adolescents involved in the child welfare system may promote positive outcomes by reducing aggressive behaviors among youth growing in fragile families. On-going trainings are needed for schoolteachers and social workers to better engage adolescents with child maltreatment at school.

Friend support buffers the relationship between maltreatment and nonsuicidal self-injury in adolescence

BACKGROUND

Prior studies have mostly focused on the risk factors for nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), but only a few studies have emphasized the related protective factors. The present study examined whether maltreatment and behavioral problems were risk factors for NSSI. Moreover, we also sought to understand whether and how friend support provides a buffer against NSSI.

METHOD

A total of 436 adolescents completed self-report surveys that addressed maltreatment, behavioral problems, friend support, and NSSI at three different time points.

RESULTS

There were significant positive correlations between maltreatment and NSSI. In the mediation analyses, we found that maltreatment was indirectly associated with NSSI via behavioral problems. Friend support demonstrated a long-term buffering effect on NSSI. Specifically, friend support had a protective effect on NSSI not only under high maltreatment levels, but also under high behavioral problem levels.

CONCLUSION

These findings contribute to the understanding of the influences of both maltreatment, behavioral problems (risk factors), and friend support (protective factors) on NSSI. In the context of intervention and education, it is important to consider the value of friend support when discussing NSSI.

Behavioral Activation System and Early Life Parental Abuse Are Associated with Antisocial Behaviors in Mexican Adolescents

Antisocial behavior (AB) is a complex phenomenon, predicted by a wide range of biological, environmental, and personality factors. These have high human and economic costs especially in adolescents, highlighting the importance of investigating factors that may be associated with these behaviors. Among the most potent predictors of AB are early life experiences and personality. To this end, the present study sought to investigate the association between early life parental abuse and behavioral activation system (BAS) personality traits assessed within the reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) framework and antisocial behaviors in Mexican adolescents. Our sample consisted of 342 adolescents (Mage = 17, SD = 2.47) from northwestern Mexico. Participants, after parental consent and participant consent/assent (if minors), self-reported early life parental abuse, current BAS personality traits, and antisocial behaviors. Through structural equation models, our results suggest there is a positive association between early life parental abuse and antisocial behaviors, as well as a negative association with BAS personality traits (R2 = 37%). These results contribute to the current literature by suggesting that personality and environmental variables can predict adolescent antisocial behaviors. Future studies should explore the interplay between these variables longitudinally and investigate both risk and protective factors, as well as negative and positive outcomes.

Dealing With Dependent Effect Sizes in MASEM

Abstract. The objective of the present study was to examine whether different methods for dealing with dependency in meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) lead to different results. Four different methods for dealing with dependent effect sizes in MASEM were applied to empirical data, including: (1) ignoring dependency; (2) aggregation; (3) elimination; and (4) a multilevel approach. Random-effects two-stage structural equation modeling was conducted for each method separately, and potential moderators were examined using subgroup analysis. Results demonstrated that the different methods of dealing with dependency in MASEM lead to different results. Thus, the decision on which approach should be used in MASEM-analysis should be carefully considered. Given that the multilevel approach is the only approach that includes all available information while explicitly modeling dependency, it is currently the theoretically preferred approach for dealing with dependency in MASEM. Future research should evaluate the multilevel approach with simulated data.

Actor-Partner Analyses of the Associations Between Harsh Discipline and Parent-Child Relationships in China

Based on the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM), this study examined the actor and partner effects of parental harsh discipline on the parent-child relationship in a sample of Chinese children. A total of 1,149 Chinese middle-school-aged children who were recruited to participate in this survey completed measures of their fathers' and mothers' psychological aggression (PA) and corporal punishment (CP) toward them and their affinitive and conflicting relationship with the father and mother. Results from the APIM analysis showed that both fathers' and mothers' harsh discipline were negatively associated with parent-child affinity and positively associated with parent-child conflict (βs < .33, ps < .001). Furthermore, results also showed that mothers' CP was negatively related to father-child affinity (βs = -.10, ps < .01) and mothers' CP and PA were positively related to father-child conflict (βs < .13, ps < .01), whereas fathers' harsh discipline was not related to mother-child relationship (βs > .04, ps > .05). Findings indicated that a parent's harsh discipline affected not only their own relationship with children but also their spouse's relationship with children. Findings in the present study highlighted the importance of decreasing both fathers' and mothers' use of harsh discipline when conducting appropriate prevention intervention to improve the parent-child relationship, especially the father-child relationship.

Associations between gaming disorder, parent-child relationship, parental supervision, and discipline styles: Findings from a school-based survey during the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Vietnam implemented numerous measures to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 among school students, including study-at-home/self-quarantine. During the study-at-home period, adolescents may engage in more video gaming than usual, potentially contributing to gaming disorder. However, the regionally-representative prevalence of gaming disorder and its association with parenting practice and discipline practice have not been described. We assessed the prevalence of gaming disorder among Vietnamese adolescents during the initial 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associations between gaming disorder and parenting practice and discipline practice.

METHODS

We conducted a school-based, self-administered cross-sectional survey of 2,084 students in Hanoi, Vietnam (response rate = 97.1%). The survey included standardized instruments translated from English to Vietnamese. We performed multilevel logistic regressions to assess the associations between parenting practice, discipline practice, and gaming disorder.

RESULTS

The prevalence of gaming disorder among the respondents was 11.6%. Healthy parent-child relationship was protective against gaming disorder (Adj OR = 0.36; 95% CI = 0.21, 0.62). Non-supervision, non-discipline, violent discipline were positively associated with gaming disorder.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

We found associations between gaming disorder and parent-child relationship, parental supervision, and parental discipline. Future interventional studies should consider assessing the effect of fostering healthy parent-child relationships and appropriate discipline on the occurrence or prognosis of gaming disorders.

Parental Beliefs and Actual Use of Corporal Punishment, School Violence and Bullying, and Depression in Early Adolescence

Prior studies on adverse outcomes of parental corporal punishment on children have focused on examining one of two broad domains of parental corporal punishment: parental beliefs or actual use. Recently, researchers have argued that parental belief and actual use of corporal punishment should work jointly to contribute to children's depression and involvement in school violence. Yet, studies supporting this proposition are lacking. This study examined the indirect link from parental attitudes towards corporal punishment to children's depression and school violence involvement through actual use of corporal punishment. Four hundred and thirty-three elementary school students and their parents in Taiwan participated in this study. The results indicate that positive parental attitudes towards corporal punishment do not predict children's depression and involvement in school violence. However, parental attitudes towards corporal punishment had significant indirect relationships with depression and involvement in school violence through the actual use of corporal punishment. These findings applied to both genders. This study supports the proposition that parental attitudes and the actual use of corporal punishment could work together to predict children's depression and school violence. Future intervention programs for decreasing children's depressive symptoms and involvement in school violence might need to tackle corporal punishment in the family.

Corporal punishment and adolescent aggression: An examination of multiple intervening mechanisms and the moderating effects of parental responsiveness and demandingness

BACKGROUND

Research on generational transmission of violence in general suggests that corporal punishment leads to children's aggressive behavior. However, less clear is the intervening mechanisms that link corporal punishment with adolescent aggression and the moderation on the intervening mechanisms.

OBJECTIVES

This study examined the mediating role of negative emotions, endorsement of violence, and low self-control in the association between parental corporal punishment and adolescent aggression and investigated whether the intervening mechanisms operated differently according to different levels of parental responsiveness and demandingness.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Data from a sample (N = 1,635) of students in central China were used. The students were from 4 schools, aged between 12-18.

METHODS

Conditional process analysis was performed to assess the moderated mediation.

RESULTS

The relations of corporal punishment with adolescent aggression were partially mediated by adolescent's endorsement of violence (b = .027, p < .001), negative emotion (b = .028, p < .001), and low self-control (b = .008, p = .007). In addition, these indirect effects were moderated by parental responsiveness and demandingness.

CONCLUSION

Our study adds further empirical credence in our collective effort to reduce adolescent aggressive behavior by banning corporal punishment as a disciplinary practice. Further, parenting programs by social welfare agencies should consider the important role of demandingness. Interventions could reduce adolescent aggression also by adolescent resilience development, improving one's self-control and management of negative emotion while cultivating moral beliefs disapprove of violence.

Child abuse and neglect in a rapidly developing country: Parents' perspectives

Purpose:

To identify parental awareness and knowledge regarding child abuse and neglect in the State of Qatar.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study using a questionnaire was conducted at Hamad Medical Corporation, the only tertiary pediatric hospital in the State of Qatar at the time of the study. Parents of children of all ages were offered a questionnaire that included demographic details, parental knowledge, and awareness of child abuse and neglect.

Results:

300 questionnaires were completed (response rate = 95%). More than 70% of parents were older than 30 years of age, 60% of them were females, and 66% were college graduates. The majority of the participants stated their familiarity about child abuse, and 6% witnessed morbidity or mortality due to child abuse in the society. Despite the identified laws, only 50% of the parents were aware of laws restricting child abuse. In regards to children with special needs, only 16% of the participants agreed that disabled children are at a higher risk of abuse compared to healthy children, while 33% were neutral and 52% disagreed. In addition, one-fifth of the respondents stated that hitting is discipline, while 63% disagreed. Almost one-third of the respondents agreed that hitting hands and buttock or hitting with soft objects is acceptable form of discipline. Unexpectedly, one-quarter of participants stated that it is okay to hit a child as long as no damage incurs. As for verbal abuse, around one-third of parents stated that yelling is not a form of child abuse, and that yelling does not affect growth and development. Comparing both corporal and verbal abuse, approximately 70% of parents stated that yelling is less harmful than hitting. In terms of child neglect, around half of the respondents agreed with the statement “Leaving a child (<5 years) unattended at home is a form of neglect,” while 42% were neutral. Finally, approximately 50% of the participants believed that it is okay to depend on nannies in assisting their children in eating and using the bathroom.

Conclusion:

Parents residing in the State of Qatar believe that they have a good knowledge regarding child abuse and neglect. However, this study shows many deficiencies in parental knowledge of child abuse and neglect. Parents’ attitudes and perceptions are considered indispensable targets for community health intervention.

Parenting and Self-Control Across Early to Late Adolescence: A Three-Level Meta-Analysis

Self-control plays a significant role in positive youth development. Although numerous self-control challenges occur during adolescence, some adolescents control themselves better than others. Parenting is considered a critical factor that distinguishes adolescents with good self-control from those with poor self-control, but existing findings are inconsistent. This meta-analysis summarizes the overall relationship between parenting and self-control among adolescents aged 10 to 22 years. The analysis includes 191 articles reporting 1,540 effect sizes (N = 164,459). The results show that parenting is associated with adolescents' self-control both concurrently (r = .204, p < .001) and longitudinally (r = .157, p < .001). Longitudinal studies also reveal that adolescents' self-control influences subsequent parenting (r = .155, p < .001). Moderator analyses show that the effect sizes are largely invariant across cultures, ethnicities, age of adolescents, and parent and youth gender. Our results point to the importance of parenting in individual differences in adolescent self-control and vice versa.

Reciprocity in Undesirable Parent-Child Behavior? Verbal Aggression, Corporal Punishment, and Girls' Oppositional Defiant Symptoms

Parental verbal aggression and corporal punishment are associated with children's conduct problems and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). The strength of bidirectional relationships among specific disruptive behaviors has been inconsistent across gender, and the direction of influence between parental aggression and girls' ODD symptoms is particularly understudied. This study tested reciprocal effects between aggressive parent behaviors and girls' ODD dimensions of oppositionality, antagonism, and irritability. Data from the Pittsburgh Girls Study (N = 2,450) were used, including annual child and parent-reported aggressive discipline and girls' parent-reported ODD symptoms between ages 5 and 16. Separate clustered Poisson regression models examined change in parent or child behavior outcomes using predictors lagged by one time point. After controlling for demographic factors, behavior stability, and other disruptive behaviors, parent-reported corporal punishment predicted girls' increasing antagonism and irritability, whereas child-reported corporal punishment was unrelated to ODD symptom change. Both parent- and child-reported verbal aggression predicted increases across ODD dimensions. Girls' oppositionality and antagonism predicted increasing parent-reported verbal aggression over time, but only oppositionality was significantly related to child-reported verbal aggression. Although ODD symptoms were unrelated to change in corporal punishment, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) predicted increasing parental aggression of both types. Bidirectional associations emerged such that parental verbal aggression escalates reciprocally with girls' behavioral ODD symptoms. Verbal aggression contributed to increasing irritability, but irritability did not influence parenting behavior. "Child effects" may be most salient for behavioral ODD symptoms in transaction with verbal aggression and for ADHD symptoms in predicting worsening corporal punishment and verbal aggression.

Linkage between teen mother's childhood adversity and externalizing behaviors in their children at age 11: Three aspects of parenting

BACKGROUND

Experiences of childhood adversity are consistently associated with compromised behavioral health later in life. Less clear is the intergenerational influence of maternal childhood adversity on developmental outcome in children. Completely unknown are the mechanisms linking teen mother's childhood adversity to child developmental outcomes.

OBJECTIVE

The present study tested whether aspects of parenting (parenting stress, physical discipline, and disagreement with grandparents) served as the pathways between teen mother's childhood adversity and the externalizing behaviors of their offspring at age 11, by gender.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Data were from a longitudinal panel study of teen mothers and their children, the Young Women and Child Development Study (N = 495; 57% male).

METHODS

The pathways from teen mother's childhood adversity to their offspring's externalizing behavior were tested by two subscales: rule-breaking behavior and aggressive behavior. In addition, multiple-group analysis was examined for potential gender differences.

RESULTS

Teen mother's childhood adversity was positively associated with greater use of parenting stress (β = 0.16, p < .01) and physical discipline (β=0.11, p < .05). In addition, parenting stress, physical discipline, and disagreement with grandparent were all associated with increased rule-breaking and aggressive behaviors in children. Multiple group analysis revealed that the path between physical discipline and externalizing behavior differed by gender, with the path only significant for girls.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings have implications for early intervention efforts that emphasize the need to intervene with children and parents, particularly helping teen mothers gain knowledge and skills to offset the impact of their experiences of childhood adversity on their parenting behaviors.

Longitudinal relation between state-trait maternal irritability and harsh parenting

According to Belsky's process model of parenting, parents' personality represents the most important factor influencing parenting and child development. While an extensive literature has empirically corroborated the role of irritability traits in predicting aggressive behaviors in laboratory-based studies, only a few studies have examined the role of irritability in predicting aggressive behaviors within family contexts. The present study addressed this gap by examining the longitudinal association between maternal irritability and harsh parenting. Referencing latent state-trait theory (LST), first we estimated the amount of variance in mothers' irritability due to trait and state components, and, next, we examined the relation between mothers' irritability (both at trait- and state- levels) and harsh parenting over time. A sample of 204 mothers from Naples and Rome provided data over 5 years in four waves. Mothers averaged 40.30 years (SD = 5.33) at Time 1 and 44.01 years (SD = 5.43) at Time 4. Their children (50% girls) were 9.45 years (SD = 0.74) at Time 1 and 13.18 years (SD = 0.66) at Time 4. Results of LST analysis showed that, on average, 39% of variability in irritability was due to trait-like factors and only 12% to state-like factors. A multitrait-multistate model revealed that the irritability trait associated with mother's lack of control predicted her harsh parenting 1-year later, while controlling for the rank-order stability of harsh parenting.

Mediating effect of emotional/behavioral problems and academic competence between parental abuse/neglect and school adjustment

The current study examined the mediating effects of emotional/behavioral problems and academic competence between parental abuse/neglect and a child's school adjustment by investigating 2070 student surveys from the Korean Child Youth Panel Study (KCYPS). A path analysis yielded the following key findings. Firstly, childhood abuse and neglect showed a significant negative and direct effect on school adjustment. It is particularly important to note that the effect of neglect was bigger than that of abuse in this study. Secondly, emotional/behavioral problems were found to partially mediate between abuse/neglect and school adjustment. Thirdly, academic competence partially mediated the effect of neglect on school adjustment, while it did not mediate the effect of abuse on school adjustment. The indirect effect of parental neglect via emotional/behavioral problems and academic competence was stronger than that of parental abuse. The influence of parental abuse and neglect on children's school adjustments was discussed in terms of emotional/behavioral problems and academic competence considering unique Korean cultural context.

Effective Discipline to Raise Healthy Children

Pediatricians are a source of advice for parents and guardians concerning the management of child behavior, including discipline strategies that are used to teach appropriate behavior and protect their children and others from the adverse effects of challenging behavior. Aversive disciplinary strategies, including all forms of corporal punishment and yelling at or shaming children, are minimally effective in the short-term and not effective in the long-term. With new evidence, researchers link corporal punishment to an increased risk of negative behavioral, cognitive, psychosocial, and emotional outcomes for children. In this Policy Statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics provides guidance for pediatricians and other child health care providers on educating parents about positive and effective parenting strategies of discipline for children at each stage of development as well as references to educational materials. This statement supports the need for adults to avoid physical punishment and verbal abuse of children.

The Relationship between Family Violence and Self-Control in Adolescence: A Multi-Level Meta-Analysis

Theoretical studies propose an association between family violence and low self-control in adolescence; however, empirical findings of this association are inconclusive. The aim of the present research was to systematically summarize available findings on the relation between family violence and self-control across adolescence. We included 28 studies with 143 effect sizes, representing more than 25,000 participants of eight countries from early to late adolescence. Applying a three-level meta-analysis, taking dependency between effect sizes into account while retaining statistical power, we examined the magnitude and direction of the overall effect size. Additionally, we investigated whether theoretical moderators (e.g., age, gender, country), and methodological moderators (e.g., time lag between family violence and self-control, informant) influenced the magnitude of the association between family violence and self-control. Our results revealed that family violence and self-control have a small to moderate significant negative association (r = -0.191). This association did not vary across gender, country, and informants. The strength of the association, however, decreased with age and in longitudinal studies. This finding provides evidence that researchers and clinicians may expect low self-control in the wake of family violence, especially in early adolescence. Recommendations for future research in the area are discussed.

Father Involvement and Behavior Problems among Preadolescents at Risk of Maltreatment

Although there is a well-established connection between father involvement and children's positive behavioral development in general, this relation has been understudied in more vulnerable and high-risk populations. The aims of this study were to examine how the quantity (i.e., the amount of shared activities) and quality (i.e., perceived quality of the father-child relationship) of father involvement are differently related to internalizing and externalizing behavior problems among preadolescents at risk of maltreatment and test if these associations are moderated by father type and child maltreatment. A secondary data analysis was conducted using data from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN). Generalized estimating equations analysis was performed on a sample of 499 preadolescents aged 12 years. The results indicated that higher quality of father involvement was associated with lower levels of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems whereas greater quantity of father involvement was associated with higher levels of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. The positive association between the quantity of father involvement and behavior problems was stronger in adolescents who were physically abused by their father. The association between father involvement and behavior problems did not differ by the type of father co-residing in the home. The findings suggest that policies and interventions aimed at improving the quality of fathers' relationships and involvement with their children may be helpful in reducing behavior problems in adolescents at risk of maltreatment.

Corporal punishment and adult antisocial behavior

A wealth of research suggests that youth whose parents use corporal punishment are more likely to engage in antisocial behavior during childhood and adolescence. Questions remain, however, about: (a) whether this relationship extends reliably to samples outside the US and Canada; (b) whether corporal punishment is associated with antisocial behavior in adulthood rather than just childhood and adolescence; (c) whether the association depends on which parents use corporal punishment; and (d) what theoretical mechanisms account for the link between corporal punishment and antisocial behavior. The present study uses data collected from young adults in Asia, Europe, and North America to address each of these issues. Net of statistical controls, including retrospective measures of childhood misbehavior and abusive parenting, findings reveal that antisocial behavior in all three regions is higher among young adults who report experiencing corporal punishment in childhood. Overall, this relationship is least likely to emerge when corporal punishment comes only from fathers and most likely to emerge when it comes from both parents. Further, results suggest that self-control and social concern, but not conventional attitudes, mediate a portion of the association between retrospective reports of childhood corporal punishment and antisocial behavior in early adulthood.

Longitudinal relations between parent-child conflict and children's adjustment: the role of children's sleep

Sleep was examined as a process variable in relations between verbal and physical parent-child conflict and change in children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms over time. Participants were 282 children at T1 (M age = 9.44 years; 48% girls), 280 children at T2 (M age = 10.41 years), and 275 children at T3 (M age = 11.35 years). Children reported on parent-child conflict, sleep was assessed with actigraphy, and parents reported on children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Autoregressive effects for sleep and internalizing and externalizing symptoms were controlled to examine change over time. Supportive of intervening processes, physical parent-child conflict at T1 and increased change in internalizing and externalizing symptoms at T3 were indirectly related through their shared association with reduced sleep continuity (efficiency, long wake episodes) at T2. Findings build on a small but growing literature and highlight the importance of considering the role of sleep in relations between family conflict and child development.

Development pathways from abusive parenting to delinquency: the mediating role of depression and aggression

This study investigated the long-term relationship between abusive parenting and adolescent mental health, and the path to delinquent behavior. Longitudinal data from 5th through 7th graders from the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey (KCYPS) were analyzed to examine if abusive parenting was a predictor of early adolescent delinquency behavior, via aggression and depression as mediating factors. The results were as follows. First, parental abuse (both emotional and physical) was found to have significant effects on children's psychosocial factors (aggression and depression), while parental neglect (both emotional and physical) had significant effects on depression alone and not on aggression. Second, aggression exerted significant effects on both violent and non-violent delinquent behaviors, while depression had a significant effect on only non-violent delinquent behaviors. Third, children's psychosocial factors (aggression and depression) played significant mediating roles between earlier abusive parenting and delinquent behaviors. Fourth, for children living in a family with their grandparents, paths from abusive parenting, psychosocial adaptation, and later delinquent behaviors were not significant, implying that living with grandparents played a protective factor in these relationships.

The Moderating Role of Parental Warmth on the Relation Between Verbal Punishment and Child Problem Behaviors for Same-sex and Cross-sex Parent-Child Groups

This study investigates the relation between parental verbal punishment and externalizing and internalizing behavior problems in Filipino children, and the moderating role of parental warmth in this relation, for same-sex (mothers-girls; fathers-boys) and cross-sex parent-child groups (mothers-boys; fathers-girls). Measures used were the Rohner Parental Acceptance-Rejection and Control Scale (PARQ/Control), the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBC), and a discipline measure (DI) constructed for the study. Participants were 117 mothers and 98 fathers of 61 boys and 59 girls who responded to a discipline interview, the Parental Acceptance-Rejection and Control scale (PARQ/Control) and the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist via oral interviews. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses (with Bonferroni-corrected alpha levels) revealed that maternal frequency of verbal punishment was positively related to internalizing and externalizing outcomes in boys and girls whereas paternal frequency of verbal punishment was positively related to girls' externalizing behavior. Significant interactions between verbal punishment and maternal warmth in mother-girl groups were also found for both internalizing and externalizing behaviors. While higher maternal warmth ameliorated the impact of low verbal punishment on girls' internalizing and externalizing behaviors, it exacerbated the effect of high verbal punishment on negative outcomes.

Longitudinal links between fathers' and mothers' harsh verbal discipline and adolescents' conduct problems and depressive symptoms

This study used cross-lagged modeling to examine reciprocal relations between maternal and paternal harsh verbal discipline and adolescents' conduct problems and depressive symptoms. Data were from a sample of 976 two-parent families and their children (51% males; 54% European American, 40% African American). Mothers' and fathers' harsh verbal discipline at age 13 predicted an increase in adolescent conduct problems and depressive symptoms between ages 13 and 14. A child effect was also present, with adolescent misconduct at age 13 predicting increases in mothers' and fathers' harsh verbal discipline between ages 13 and 14. Furthermore, maternal and paternal warmth did not moderate the longitudinal associations between mothers' and fathers' use of harsh verbal discipline and adolescent conduct problems and depressive symptoms.