Changing attitudes about spanking among conservative Christians using interventions that focus on empirical research evidence and progressive biblical interpretations

Do parenting behaviors intended as discipline vary by household religious affiliation in Cameroon?

BACKGROUND

Religious affiliation may account for some variance in parenting behaviors used for disciplinary intent. However, most reported studies of this relationship are limited to high-income countries focused on Christianity.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to determine whether parenting behaviors vary by religion in a low- and middle-income country between Protestant, Catholic, and Muslim groups. It was hypothesized that Protestant households would have higher odds of select parenting behaviors.

PARTICIPANTS & SETTINGS

Data from the 2014 Cameroonian Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, containing a nationally representative household sample, were used.

METHODS

Adult caregivers in selected households with a child aged 1-14 years of age participated in interviews containing a standardized disciplinary measure asking about the exposure of one randomly selected child to a series of parent behaviors in the preceding month.

RESULTS

Of the 4978 households, 41.6 % were Catholic, 30.9 % Protestant and 27.6 % Muslim. Spanking was the most common of the six types of physical punishments across groups with no association with household religion. In contrast, children in Protestant households had higher odds of being hit with an object compared to the other two groups, but only for younger children. Children in Protestant households also had higher odds of exposure to a combined approach, i.e., use of physical, psychological, and non-violent parent behaviors.

CONCLUSIONS

This study advances the examination of the potential influence of household religion on parenting behavior, however further inquiry is needed to examine these patterns in other settings with additional indices of religiosity and disciplinary beliefs.

Examining the Use of a Brief Online Intervention in Primary Care for Changing Low-Income Caregivers' Attitudes Toward Spanking

There is a robust and growing literature base indicating that spanking is a common, but potentially problematic, discipline strategy. Goals: Using a randomized controlled trial design, this study examined whether participation in a brief online program, Play Nicely, would result in favorable changes in caregivers' attitudes toward spanking. The study also examined whether the intervention was equally effective for participants of color (POC) and White participants, and it assessed caregivers' perceptions of the program's cultural sensitivity. Methods: Participants were 52 caregivers from 1- to 5-year-old children who were visiting a pediatric clinic. Participants were enrolled and randomly assigned to either engage in the Play Nicely online program (n = 21) or view a control condition website (n = 31) in a clinic exam room. Results: There was not a statistically significant difference between the treatment and control groups' scores on attitudes toward spanking (ATS) at post-test (F (1, 49) = 1.515, p = 0.224), but a small between-group effect size was detected (d = 0.20). Within the treatment condition, desired changes in ATS scores were significantly higher among White participants than POC (t (17) = -2.125, p = 0.049), but there was not a significant difference in reported perceptions of Play Nicely's cultural acceptability between White participants and POC (t (19) = 0.469, p = 0.644). Conclusions: Findings suggest a need for further investigation of Play Nicely's impact on caregivers' ATS with a larger sample to clarify the program's utility as a potential population-based tool for parent education and violence prevention. Additional research is needed to identify sociocultural factors that may moderate the effects of spanking interventions for families across diverse racial backgrounds.

Identifying knowledge, self-efficacy and response efficacy of alternative discipline strategies among low-income Black, Latino and White parents

Corporal punishment (CP) leads to detrimental mental and physical consequences for a child. One way to prevent CP is to encourage parents to apply alternative discipline strategies that do not involve violence. Based on the knowledge-behavior gap framework in public health education, this study analyzed the focus group data of 75 low-income Black, Latino and White parents to uncover commonalties and differences in their knowledge, self-efficacy and response efficacy of alternative discipline strategies. Findings revealed that parents knew several alternative discipline strategies and had confidence in their ability to conduct these strategies. However, parents reported that some strategies were hard to implement because they lacked the relevant resources. Moreover, parents did not perceive that alternative discipline strategies were effective without using some forms of CP. Knowledge, self-efficacy and response efficacy of alternative discipline strategies are risk factors for child physical abuse and addressing them will help prevent injury and health impacts on children, while providing safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for child development.

Impact of corporal punishment on victims' future violent behavior in extracurricular sports

BACKGROUND

Over 500 cases of school-based corporal punishment (CP) are reported annually in Japan. A major feature of CP in Japanese schools is its high prevalence during extracurricular sports activities.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of having suffered a CP-related injury on victims' later use of CP in an athletics environment.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Participants were 704 undergraduate students of a sports instructor training course who were recruited as volunteers during classes.

METHODS

A questionnaire on past experiences of CP and later perpetration of CP was administered to the participants. It was found that 31.3% of the students had experienced CP and 2.3% had perpetrated CP on others. We conducted logistic regression analyses with CP as an objective dependent variable and gender, grade and past CP experience (elementary, junior high school, or high school) as explanatory variables.

RESULTS

The results of the analysis revealed that having experienced CP had a significant relationship with the victims' perpetration of CP. Elementary school was the only life stage for which there was a significant correlation between having been a victim of CP and practicing it in the future.

CONCLUSIONS

Many studies have explored the use of CP in families, while others have demonstrated that physical education students who received CP themselves are more likely to find CP an acceptable method of maintaining discipline. This is the first study that investigates whether students who experienced CP show a higher prevalence of CP perpetration. The findings indicate that experiencing CP in childhood is a risk factor for future use of CP. Proper care is required for children who have experienced CP at a young age.

Physical punishment of children by US parents: moving beyond debate to promote children's health and well-being

Physical punishment remains a common practice in the USA despite significant empirical evidence of its potential harm and ineffectiveness, arguments that its use violates children's human rights, and professional recommendations against its use. The purpose of the current paper is to offer explanations as to why, in the face of a worldwide movement to protect children from violence, the USA continues to support physical punishment of children. The paper also summarizes the various debates engaged in by experts that stem from these explanations for physical punishment and argue that the time has come to move beyond these debates and eliminate the physical punishment of children. We offer suggestions for changing attitudes and practices related to physical punishment of children in order to promote their health and well-being. We conclude by suggesting that the burden of proof in debates about physical punishment, which has typically fallen upon those who argue children should never be physically punished, should shift to those who continue to promote its use despite evidence of its harm and ineffectiveness.