Parental Physical Discipline in Singapore

• In Event: Harsh Parenting in the 21st Century: Exploring Genetics, Cultural Factors, and the Mental Health Sequelae

Abstract

“Spare the rod, spoil the child?” is an age-old question reflecting a belief held by many parents - i.e., that physical discipline is necessary to foster children’s growth. Yet there is a growing scientific consensus that physical discipline can place children at risk for a wide range of negative consequences (Gershoff & Grogan-Kaylor, 2016; Lansford et al., 2005). Previous studies found that more than 70% of Singaporean adults considered caning children to be ‘sometimes’ or ‘always’ acceptable (Elliott et al., 1997) and not necessarily and always a form of abuse (i.e., ‘can be’ or ‘is not’ abuse; Lui et al., 2019). However, there is a lack of studies on the actual prevalence of physical discipline practices in Singapore. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of physical discipline of children by their parents, the longitudinal change in prevalence from early to middle childhood, and the consistency in parental self- and spouse-reports on their physical discipline use. Participants were 686 children with parental reports of discipline practices at one or more assessments at ages 4.5, 6, and 9 years of the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes birth cohort. Between 2014 to 2020, parents reported on their physical discipline use in the physical coercion subscale of the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire – Short Version (Robinson et al., 2001) at the age 4.5 and 9 assessments and the corporal punishment subscale of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (Shelton et al., 1996) at the age 6 assessment. The prevalence of physical discipline, specified as experiencing at least one physical discipline at any frequency, was above 85% at all ages (Figure 1). There was a decrease in this prevalence from early to middle childhood, with a generalized linear mixed model suggesting that children were less likely to be physically disciplined when they were age 9 than when they were age 4.5 (B = -0.41, SE = 0.08, χ2 = 25.67, p < .001, OR = 0.67, 95% CI [0.57, 0.78]). There were few cases (0.6%) where the mother or father reported never using physical discipline, while their spouse reported that they often used physical discipline (Table 1). Future work is needed to examine the specific nature of Singaporean children’s physical discipline experiences and its implications for developmental outcomes, considering that the experience may be relatively painless and rare for some children, and in light of arguments that physical discipline may not be harmful if practiced in a controlled manner (Larzelere & Kuhn, 2005). Previous literature suggests that, where physical discipline is common, the disciplinary method may be perceived by parents and their children as an educational undertaking to foster responsibility and self-discipline (Twum-Danso Imoh, 2013; Yang, 2009). This is an interesting possibility to test in future investigations of Singaporean parents’ and children’s attitudes towards physical discipline. We hope our findings on the prevalence of physical discipline serve as a knowledge base for future empirical investigations on the nature and implications of this disciplinary method in Singapore.

Authors

• Mioko Sudo, Nanyang Technological University
  Presenting Author

• Ying Qing Won, Nanyang Technological University

• Winnie W. Y. Chau, National University of Singapore

• Helen Chen

• Anne Elise Rifkin-Graboi, National Institute of Education

• Henning Tiemeier

• Peipei Setoh, Nanyang Technological University