IMPULSIVE CORPORAL PUNISHMENT BY MOTHERS AND ANTISOCIAL-BEHAVIOR AND IMPULSIVENESS OF CHILDREN

This study tested the hypothesis that corporal punishment (CP), such a s spanking or slapping a child for purposes of correcting misbehavior, is associated with antisocial behavior (ASB) and impulsiveness by the child. The data were obtained through interviews with a probability s ample of 933 mothers of children age 2-14 in two small American cities . Analyses of variance found that the more CP experienced by the child , the greater the tendency for the child to engage in ASB and to act i mpulsively. These relationships hold even after controlling for family socioeconomic status, the age and sex of the child, nurturance by the mother, and the level of non-corporal interventions by the mother. Th ere were also significant interaction effects of CP with impulsiveness by the mother. When CP was carried out impulsively, it was most stron gly related to child impulsiveness and ASB; when CP was done when the mother was under control; the relationship to child behavior problems was reduced but still present. In view of the fact that there is a hig h risk of losing control when engaged in CP, even by parents who are n ot usually impulsive, and the fact that impulsive CP is so strongly as sociated with child behavior problems, the results of this study sugge st that CP is an important risk factor for children developing a patte rn of impulsive and antisocial behavior which, in turn, may contribute to the level of violence and other crime in society. (C) 1998 John Wi ley & Sons, Ltd.