SPANKING INFANTS AND TODDLERS - MATERNAL BELIEF AND PRACTICE

Objective. To describe maternal beliefs and practices of spanking infa nts and toddlers and the relations between factors affecting these bel iefs and practices. Design. Cross-sectional survey. Setting. Site 1 wa s an inner-city teaching hospital pediatric clinic. Site 2 was a priva te pediatrician's office in a nearby suburban neighborhood. Participan ts. Mothers of children less than 4 years old in the waiting area. Sit e 1: n = 104; site 2: n = 100. Selection. Systematic sample of conveni ence. Methods. Mothers were interviewed using a 20-minute structured q uestionnaire. Measures were constructed to assess beliefs (Cronbach's alpha =.90) and practices about spanking and approach to discipline (a lpha > .71). Results. Belief in spanking correlated significantly (P < .001) with belief in negative approach (r = .52) and with the practic e (r = .46) and severity (r = .34) of spanking. Nineteen percent of th e mothers believed that there are times when it is appropriate to span k a child less than 1 year old, and 74% believed this about children 1 to 3 years old. Forty-two percent reported that they had spanked thei r own child in the past week. Mothers believed more strongly in spanki ng for dangerous misbehaviors than for annoying ones (P < .001). Belie f in spanking and negative approach were stronger for older toddlers ( P < .001). Belief in and frequency of spanking were more common at the inner-city site (P < .001). Conclusions. The belief in and practice o f spanking are prevalent in disciplining very young children. The cont ext of the spanking affects beliefs and practices. The finding that be lief and practice of spanking are highly correlated suggests that beli ef rather than impulse largely explains spanking of children less than 4 years old. The high correlation between spanking and negative appro ach toward discipline raises questions about whether negative conseque nces of spanking are the result of spanking per se, the negative appro ach toward the child, or both.