Coercive responses to children's behavior are well recognized to be problematic for children's adjustment. Less well understood is how parental social cognition is linked to discipline. In this study we sought to link metaparenting--parents' thoughts about their parenting--to the use of coercive discipline. We predicted that mothers who engaged in…

Every day, almost one billion children around the world experience violent punishment. Eliminating all violence against children is a key target of the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This is a monumental challenge due to the diversity of cultural, economic and social contexts in which children live. Violence-prevention…

A total of 24 middle-class mothers and their two-and-a-half-year old children were observed on two occasions. Mothers were found to employ two types of control techniques: immediate contingent response to the child's undesired behavior and intentional direction of the child's attention without prior elicitation by the child. (Author/RH)

Investigated the effects of caregiving experience on adults' thinking about a child-rearing problem. Study 1 found that, of 192 adults, parents were better than nonparents at diagnosing the cause of a baby's crying. Study 2 extended the first study's findings to 42 mothers and 42 nonmothers. (SKC)

Reports on two studies that assessed the relationship between mothers' and fathers' disciplinary practices with three-year-olds and outcome expectancies. Mothers who used corporal punishment at least once a week believed that it was more likely to result in positive outcomes than mothers who never or occasionally spanked. No significant…

This paper discusses a method of eliciting parental self-reports about child-rearing behavior. The method, called computer-presented social situations (CPSS), uses vignettes that are presented on computers. Several studies examined: (1) what mothers think about the technique; (2) reliability of data collected by the technique; and (3) validity of…

Parent ability to diagnose the cause of non-contingent crying in an infant was investigated through use of a new methodological instrument. Problems programmed on a microcomputer presented 25 information units leading to only one correct causal hypothesis about infant crying and 25 information units similarly structured about an adult woman's…

This study was designed to look for patterns of parental behavior by assessing styles of child rearing in a novel way--through responses on an interactive computer program simulating an average day in the life of a mother and a preschooler. Presented to each subject (39 mothers of preschoolers and a control group of non-mothers) were 30 common…

Investigated relations of marital discord and parental and child behavior for battered women and comparison mothers and their children. Found differences in level of stress and inconsistency in parenting between the groups of mothers. Children from violent families were reported to have more internalizing behavior problems than comparison…

Two studies explored mothers' beliefs about the characteristics of effective mothers of preschool-aged children. Study One consisted of interviews of 50 mothers which were designed to generate a pool of characteristics associated with good mothering. Of the 33 characteristics generated, those most frequently mentioned were being loving, patient,…

This study examined the correspondence between parents' and children's orientations toward the use of physical punishment. A series of vignettes concerning child misbehavior was shown to children and their parents. Subjects were asked to assess the likelihood of their responding to the situation shown by spanking the child in the vignette.…

Explored ability of parenting stress to predict maternal behaviors among low-income women, about half of whom were residing in a battered women's shelter. Assessed parenting stress, maternal adjustment, marital relationship, and responses to typical child behaviors. Found that parenting stress predicts use of positive behaviors like affection and…

Two groups of l4 mothers were interviewed to study how parents reason about their children's behavior. The two samples differed considerably in terms of education, age, race, and socioeconomic status. The first group, high school educated, averaged 24 years of age, and, if married, had spouses with blue-collar jobs. The second group, college…

Discusses computer-presented social situations (CPSS), i.e., microcomputer-based simulations developed to provide a new methodological tool for social scientists interested in the study of social relations. Two CPSSs are described: DaySim, used to help identify types of parenting; and DateSim, used to study interpersonal attraction. (21…

Telephone interviews were conducted with 39 college-educated mothers of 3-year-old children to examine the conditions surrounding the occurrence of physical punishment. Responses suggest that certain types of misbehavior, notably aggression, were more likely to elicit spanking than other misbehavior. In addition, parents' positive attitudes toward…