ABSTRACT

Objective

This study tested whether the longitudinal effects of mothers’ and fathers’ corporal punishment on children’s aggression would vary depending on the context of the parent-child relationship (gender of the parent-child dyad, other parenting practices).

Method

Participants were 325 children (M_age = 7.44 years, SD = .50) and their parents from Estonia who participated in a longitudinal study. Both mothers and fathers filled out measures of parenting practices in Grade 1 (corporal punishment, warmth, behavioral and psychological control). Teachers rated children’s aggressive behavior in Grade 1 and 3.

Results

We found that the effects of both mothers’ and fathers’ corporal punishment on changes in children’s aggressive behavior were conditional. In contexts that were characterized by a lack of parental warmth or overuse of behavioral control, corporal punishment was associated with increases in aggression; in parent-child relationships with high levels of parental affection or low levels of behavioral control, it was unrelated to, or associated with, decreases in aggression. Some of these conditional effects were specific to the gender of the parent and the child.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that we should try to better understand the complexities of different parent-child relationships that magnify vs. minimize the negative consequences of corporal punishment.

中文翻译：

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揭示体罚预测儿童攻击性增加与减少的亲子环境

摘要

客观的

本研究测试了母亲和父亲体罚对儿童攻击性的纵向影响是否会因亲子关系的背景（亲子关系的性别、其他养育方式）而有所不同。

方法

参与者是来自爱沙尼亚的 325 名儿童（M_年龄 = 7.44 岁，SD  = .50）和他们的父母，他们参加了一项纵向研究。母亲和父亲都填写了一年级育儿实践的衡量标准（体罚、温暖、行为和心理控制）。教师对 1 年级和 3 年级儿童的攻击性行为进行评分。

结果

我们发现，母亲和父亲的体罚对儿童攻击性行为变化的影响是有条件的。在缺乏父母温暖或过度使用行为控制的情况下，体罚与攻击性增加有关；在父母亲情高或行为控制水平低的亲子关系中，它与攻击性的降低无关或相关。其中一些条件效应特定于父母和孩子的性别。

结论

我们的研究结果表明，我们应该尝试更好地理解不同亲子关系的复杂性，这些关系放大或最小化体罚的负面后果。