Family support, corporal punishment and its behavioral consequences on children

One-hundred and seventy children selected from at-risk-of-violence families responded to a questionnaire investigating how frequently they experienced moderate and severe maltreatment from their parents. They also reported th eir involvement in antisocial acts, their consumption of alcohol and drugs, their levels of depression and anxiety, and how frequently they received s upport and affection from their families. Results were analyzed within a ca usal model of structural relations, which showed that the moderate form of maltreatment was positively related to its severe manifestation. Severe mal treatment, in turn, significantly increased children's levels of depression and anxiety and, less saliently, promoted their engagement in antisocial a cts and addictions. Although family support inhibited the occurrence of sev ere maltreatment, it did not have a salient effect on this form of abusive parenting.