Parenting Parenting Research

Research

The research component includes:

• An extensive review of the research and parent education literature on child socialization, resulting in creation of the conceptual framework outlined above which serves as the basis for the research, training, and educational components.
• A review of the research literature on the consequences of physical punishment, resulting in a summary paper, a supportive 63-page (650+ citation) bibliography, two short literature review articles, and a Research Update for Practitioners delivered at the annual conference of the National Council on Family Relations in Washington D.C. in November 1997. While there is nothing in the research literature to support the notion that spanking or other forms of physical punishment are effective ways to guide or discipline children, no one study controls all the variables in the complex process of socialization. However, based on the mass of research findings available, two general conclusions appear warranted: Spanking is no more effective, and probably less effective, than other disciplinary techniques in stopping or changing misbehavior and spanking is associated with an increased probability of a whole litany of undesirable consequences. Some of these associations, along with thirteen other consequences of physical punishment for children, are summarized in a later section of this chapter.
• An original three-wave interview study of 1003 parents in an experimental and a control county in southeastern Minnesota. The first wave of the interview study was completed in June 1994; the second wave in December 1996; the third in October 1999. Analysis of the data indicates a reduction in belief in and reported actual use of physical punishment and an increase in nurturance and positive reinforcement in the experimental county. Examination of the data indicates, among other things, a significant drop from Time One to Time Three in aggressive acting-out by children whose parents report no use of physical punishment and an increase in aggressive acting-out by children whose parents report using physical punishment. Maternal nurturance (especially in terms of spending time, listening, and physical expressions of love and affection) appears to be inversely related to aggressive acting-out by children. Other results of the longitudinal study are reported in the evaluation section, below. These and many other results of this study will be reported in a monograph to be released in Fall 2000.

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