PUNITIVE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES REPORTED BY YOUNG-ADULTS OVER A 10-YEAR PERIOD

Using a standardized questionnaire, descriptions of disciplinary child hood experiences were obtained from 11,660 university undergraduates o ver a 10-year period. Results indicated that there were no systematic changes in reports of physical discipline experienced by young adults over the decade sampled, suggesting the prevalence of physical abuse a mong predominately middle-income families is not evidencing any signif icant change. Additionally, regardless of whether their early childhoo d antedated or succeeded the growth in public attention to physical ab use, most young adults who reported severely punitive or injurious dis ciplinary events failed to categorize those experiences as abusive. Th e implications of the results are discussed in the context of efforts to raise public awareness of abuse and efforts to reduce possible tran sgenerationalpatterns of maltreatment.