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Parental Physical Punishment and Adolescent Adjustment: Bidirectionality and the Moderation Effects of Child Ethnicity and Parental Warmth

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Abstract

This study used cross-lagged modeling to examine reciprocal relations between maternal and paternal physical punishment and adolescent misconduct and depressive symptoms, while accounting for stability in both physical punishment and adjustment problems over time. Data were drawn from a sample of 862 two-parent families and their adolescent children (52 % males; 54 % European American; 44 % African American; 2 % other ethnic backgrounds). Mothers’ and fathers’ physical punishment of their adolescents’ ages 12 and 14 predicted increased misconduct and depressive symptoms among these adolescents at ages 14 and 16. Adolescent misconduct, but not depressive symptoms, at ages 12 and 14 predicted increased physical punishment by their parents at ages 14 and 16. Neither parental warmth nor child ethnicity moderated the longitudinal relationship between parental physical punishment and adolescent adjustment. Patterns of findings were similar across mothers and fathers.

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  1. School of Education, Department of Psychology, Learning Research & Development Center, University of Pittsburgh, 5940 Wesley W. Posvar Hall, 230 South Bouquet Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA

    Ming-Te Wang

  2. Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Sarah Kenny

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Wang, MT., Kenny, S. Parental Physical Punishment and Adolescent Adjustment: Bidirectionality and the Moderation Effects of Child Ethnicity and Parental Warmth. J Abnorm Child Psychol 42, 717–730 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-013-9827-8

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