Poster #156 - Social Domain Theory and Children’s Temperament: Study of Parental Discipline and Children’s Externalizing Symptoms

• In Event: 1-061 - Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Section - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Integrative Statement

Early childhood is a vulnerable developmental period for children's exposure to harsh discipline (Edwards & Lui, 2002). In particular, physical discipline have been shown to be associated with more aggression and more externalizing problems (Gershoff & Grogan-Kaylor, 2016). However, much of the work in this area has not considered the context within which harsh discipline may occur and the differential implications for development. Social domain theory (SDT; Smetana, 1984) proposes that different domains of socialization may have distinct functions for child development including: moral, conventional (rules and norms), and prudential (safety) contexts. Although a large body of research has examined these domains and adjustment during adolescence, the impact of parental harsh discipline in response to child transgressions within these domains and development in early child development is relatively unknown. Towards this, the present study examines associations between parental discipline practices within these three domains and children’s externalizing. Moreover, the present study will examine the differential impact of mother’s and father’s discipline across domains on children’s externalizing symptomatology. Finally, it has been theorized that children with a difficult temperament appear to be more heavily influenced by the environment they are raised in (Belsky, Bakermans-Kranenburg, & van IKzendoorn, 2005). Integrating these conceptualizations within our model, the current study also examines whether negative emotionality moderates the relationship between mothers and fathers discipline style and children’s externalizing behavior.

Sample. Participants were 209 mothers and fathers and their 3–year-old children (43.8% male) residing in Western New York.

Method. To assess parenting, mothers and fathers completed the discipline scenario portion of the Parenting Dimensions Inventory (PDI). Three scenarios are presented which are consistent with the domains of SDT. Parents were asked to indicate how often they used physical punishment or reasoning discipline with their child. Mother and father reports on the oppositional defiant, conduct problems, and overt hostility subscales on the Health Behavior Questionnaire (HBQ) were used to index Externalizing Symptoms. Mothers completed the anger/frustration, impulsivity, and activity level subscales on the Child Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ).

Results. Path analysis was used to analyze our models (Table 1). Child demographics were included as covariates. Results suggested that mother’s use of spanking was associated with child externalizing across all three domains while her use of reasoning/reminding discipline was not. Father’s use of spanking was only associated with child externalizing for the conventional domain. Findings suggest that maternal use of harsh discipline may be particularly associated with children’s externalizing symptoms early in life. There was a significant interaction effect of child negative emotionality for mothers between both spanking in conventional and moral domains on children’s externalizing symptoms. No other interaction effects for mothers or fathers were significant. Post-hoc simple slope analyses revealed that children low in negative emotionality experienced increased externalizing symptoms as maternal use of spanking increased (Figure 1).

Discussion. Findings suggest that maternal use of harsh discipline may have a stronger effect on children’s externalizing symptoms when compared with fathers. We discuss how the domain of discipline may impact these associations and child negative emotionality.

Authors

• Catarina Lena Carosa, Mt. Hope Family Center - Project FLIGHT
  Presenting Author

• Melissa Sturge-Apple, University of Rochester
  Non-Presenting Author

• Patrick Davies, University of Rochester
  Non-Presenting Author