MATERNAL DISCIPLINE OF YOUNG-CHILDREN - CONTEXT, BELIEF, AND PRACTICE

This report describes maternal discipline of infants and toddlers, foc using on how the context of the misbehavior affects maternal beliefs a nd practices. Mothers of 1- to 4-year-old children were interviewed us ing a 20-minute, structured questionnaire at two practice sites: (1) a n inner-city teaching hospital pediatric clinic (n = 104) and (2) a pr ivate pediatrician's office in a nearby suburban neighborhood (n = 100 ). Measures were constructed to assess beliefs and practices about thr ee kinds of discipline (teaching, spanking, and removing) and about tw o approaches to discipline (positive or negative). We found that mothe rs believe significantly (p <.001) more strongly in all three kinds of discipline for dangerous misbehavior compared with annoying ones. Bel ief in teaching, spanking, and negative approach increase with age; be lief in removing decreases (p <.001); and belief in positive approach remains stable. Belief in spanking starts earlier than belief in teach ing, and belief in negative tone increases with age. Mothers seem to h ave better formulated beliefs about spanking and negative and positive approach to discipline than about teaching or removing. Eighty-five p ercent believe time-out is at times appropriate for a 2 year old, but only 67% had practiced it in the past week. Belief and practice of tim e-out varied by the age of the child and practice site. Explaining, di stracting, and praising were practiced frequently, whereas bribing was less common. Less than half (44%) reported that they had ever discuss ed discipline with their child's physician, although 85% thought that their physician could give good advice. There is evidence that mothers change their minds about the appropriateness of time-out as their chi ld gets older, but beliefs about other kinds of discipline remain rela tively constant. We conclude that the type of misbehavior and the age of the child affect a mother's beliefs about discipline. These finding s suggest a role for pediatricians in exploring and broadening parents ' concepts of discipline.