Parental harsh discipline in mainland China: Prevalence, frequency, and coexistence

G Model CHIABU-2744; No. of Pages 10

ARTICLE IN PRESS Child Abuse & Neglect xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Child Abuse & Neglect

Parental harsh discipline in mainland China: Prevalence, frequency, and coexistence夽 Meifang Wang ∗ , Li Liu Department of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, PR China

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history: Received 10 November 2013 Received in revised form 19 February 2014 Accepted 27 February 2014 Available online xxx

Keywords: Parental harsh discipline Psychological aggression Corporal punishment Severe physical abuse Mainland China

a b s t r a c t The study examined the prevalence, frequency, and coexistence of psychological aggression (PA), corporal punishment (CP), and severe physical abuse (SPA) in mainland China. Using a sample of 2,518 father–mother dyads of 3–15-year-old children, the findings revealed that parental harsh discipline was prevalent in mainland China. The rates of harsh discipline in the current study fell in the middle of the ranges of rates found in other studies. Harsh discipline was most likely directed at boys or children aged 7 years and committed by mothers, young fathers, or high and low socioeconomic status (SES) parents. The prevalence of maternal and paternal PA and CP declined with the children’s age. Maternal and paternal SPA first increased and then decreased with child age. The frequency of the three types of maternal and paternal harsh discipline fluctuated depending on the age of the children. In addition, approximately 50% of the mothers and fathers who reported using severe forms of disciplinary practices also engaged in less severe forms of harsh disciplinary practices against their children. SPA generally coexisted with CP and PA, and CP was usually accompanied by PA; however, PA was more likely to occur independently compared with CP and SPA. Moreover, maternal harsh discipline coexisted with paternal harsh discipline to some extent. The coexistence decreased with increasing severity of parental harsh discipline and differed according to child gender. These findings highlight the importance of studying these three types of parental harsh discipline simultaneously and intervening in harsh discipline by mothers and fathers within the same family. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction Many children throughout the world experience various forms of parental harsh discipline (e.g., psychological aggression, corporal punishment, and physical abuse) (Gershoff, 2008; Ghate, Hazel, Creighton, Finch, & Field, 2003; Straus, Hamby, Finkelhor, Moore, & Runyan, 1998; Tang, 2006). Although considerable research has documented the prevalence, frequency, and associated factors of parental harsh discipline, research examining this issue is still rare in China, especially in mainland China, where harsh parental discipline is one of the most prevalent disciplinary techniques (Lansford et al., 2005; Xing, Wang, Zhang, He, & Zhang, 2011; Yen et al., 2008). Traditional Chinese cultures tend to perceive harsh parenting behaviors as an indication of parental involvement, concern, and love, as indicated by the Chinese proverb, “Beating and scolding is the emblem of love” (Chao, 1994; Hou, Yu, Ting, Sze, & Fang, 2011; Simons, Wu, Lin, Gordon, & Conger, 2000). Therefore, Chinese parents may adopt more harsh disciplinary

夽 This research was supported by Key Subject Funds of Shandong Province, PR China (2011–2015). ∗ Corresponding author at: Department of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, No. 88 East Wenhua Road, Jinan 250014, PR China. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.02.016 0145-2134/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article in press as: Wang, M., & Liu, L. Parental harsh discipline in mainland China: Prevalence, frequency, and coexistence. Child Abuse & Neglect (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.02.016

G Model CHIABU-2744; No. of Pages 10

ARTICLE IN PRESS

2

M. Wang, L. Liu / Child Abuse & Neglect xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

practices to motivate their children to achieve high academic, social, and moral goals and the culturally valued goal of filial piety (Chao, 1994; Lin & Fu, 1990; Tang, 1998). Several studies in Chinese samples, however, have shown that parental harsh discipline may lead to negative effects on children, such as aggression, delinquency, anxiety, and depression (Gershoff et al., 2010; Xing et al., 2011; Xing & Wang, 2012). Given this evidence regarding the negative effects of parental harsh discipline, Chinese parents who frequently employ harsh discipline should be encouraged to shift from harsh disciplinary practices to other, nonviolent forms of child discipline. It should be noted that research on issues surrounding parental harsh discipline in mainland China has mainly focused on physical aggression (Ma, Chen, Xiao, Wang, & Zhang, 2011; Xing et al., 2011; Xing & Wang, 2012). In contrast, studies on parental psychological aggression are relatively limited (Liu, Wang, & Xing, 2011). Furthermore, previous studies on parental physical aggression that have been conducted in mainland China have had a major focus on physical aggression toward elementary school students (Ma et al., 2011; Xing et al., 2011; Xing & Wang, 2012), and research examining physical aggression toward children in earlier (or later) developmental periods is scarce. Therefore, the main aim of the current study was to explore the basic characteristics of different types of parental harsh discipline among a broad age range of children in mainland China. Belsky’s (1984, 1993) process model of parenting has indicated that parental harsh discipline is associated with individual and relational influences such as the characteristics of the child, characteristics of the parent, and characteristics of the family. These characteristics are known to be associated with the use of harsh discipline by Western parents (Gámez-Guadix, Straus, ˜ Carrobles, Munoz-Rivas, & Almendros, 2010; McKee et al., 2007; Pinderhughes, Dorge, Bates, Pettit, & Zelli, 2000; Straus & Field, 2003; Straus & Stewart, 1999) and therefore might also be associated with harsh discipline by Chinese parents. Hence, we also examined the extent to which parental harsh discipline varies based on the characteristics of parents, children, and families, such as gender, age, and socioeconomic status (SES). The information on how the demographic risk factors could influence parental harsh discipline can enhance our understanding of the social structural determinants of parental harsh discipline in ecological models and also provide empirical data for interventions designed to reduce the risk of parental harsh discipline. For example, if there are gender, age, or SES differences in the prevalence or frequency of parental harsh discipline, steps to reduce harsh discipline could be structured to reflect the life circumstances and culture of these groups. According to Straus and colleagues (1998), parental harsh discipline includes psychological aggression (PA), corporal punishment (CP), severe physical abuse (SPA), and very severe physical abuse. It is important to recognize that each type of parental harsh discipline rarely occurs in isolation as a “pure” form of parental aggression and is often combined with other discipline strategies (Gershoff, 2002; Tang, 2006). Indeed, Miller-Perrin, Perrin, and Kocur (2009) provided evidence of a high correlation between parental PA, CP, and SPA (>0.55), which is consistent with previous research showing that psychological aggression frequently overlaps with physical aggression and that corporal punishment is often combined with threats and other verbally violent behaviors (Gershoff, 2002; Grusec & Kuczynski, 1980; Jackson, Gyamfi, Brooks-Gunn, & Blake, 1998; Vissing, Straus, Gelles, & Harrop, 1991). However, few studies have examined whether and to what extent the three types of parental harsh discipline coexist in China. Therefore, the second aim of the present study was to explore the coexistence of different types of parental harsh discipline. From a systems perspective, a family is a complex system composed of a set of interrelated elements, including not only individuals but also dyads (e.g., husband–wife, mother–child, father–child dyads; Lewis, 2005). Concerning the relationship between different types of dyads, the spillover hypothesis suggests that different dyadic relationships are interrelated with one another within the same family (Barnett, Deng, Mills-Koonce, Willoughby, & Cox, 2008; Cummings & Davies, 2002). To date, it has been established that the influences of a spouse through his or her contributions to disciplinary practices are critical to the other spouse’s disciplinary practices. For example, Harper, Brown, Arias, and Brody (2006) found a positive association between paternal CP and maternal CP. Similarly, Capaldi, Pears, Kerr, and Owen (2008) also found that father’s harsh disciplinary practices were predicted by the mother’s negative disciplinary practices. However, the abovementioned research suggesting the coexistence of maternal and paternal harsh discipline was conducted in Western settings; little is known about this issue in Chinese societies. Hence, the third aim of the present study was to explore the coexistence of maternal and paternal harsh discipline in China. In summary, the current study involved the independent collection of data from a large sample of mothers and fathers with 3–15-year-old children and the examination of the prevalence, frequency, and coexistence of three types of maternal and paternal harsh discipline. This study offers a more comprehensive description of the characteristics of parental harsh discipline in mainland China, enriches previous studies with Chinese samples, and promotes cross-cultural comparisons.

Method Procedure The children and their parents were recruited from two public kindergartens and two public schools in the city of Jinan, located in Shandong Province in eastern China. After obtaining parental informed consent, two packets (one for the mother and one for the father) containing the parental questionnaires were sent home with the children. In the attached instructions, the parents were directed to complete the questionnaires separately at home and not to share their answers. The parents Please cite this article in press as: Wang, M., & Liu, L. Parental harsh discipline in mainland China: Prevalence, frequency, and coexistence. Child Abuse & Neglect (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.02.016

G Model CHIABU-2744; No. of Pages 10

ARTICLE IN PRESS M. Wang, L. Liu / Child Abuse & Neglect xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

3

completed their respective packets and returned them through the school. The data collection procedures were approved by the Institutional Review Board at Shandong Normal University. Participants A total of 2,689 intact families with at least one child between the ages of 3 and 15 years were enrolled in the study, and 2,615 (97.25%) of these families participated in the survey. A further 97 families were excluded from the final data set because of a large amount of missing data, which resulted in a final sample of 2,518 intact families with children (1,289 boys, 1,229 girls). In total, 84.60% of the children were only children. Approximately 25.14% of the children attended kindergarten (age range: 3–8 years, M = 4.74 years, SD = 0.98), 34.83% attended primary school (age range: 7–13 years, M = 9.88 years, SD = 1.66), and 40.03% attended secondary school (age range: 11–15 years, M = 13.78 years, SD = 0.96). The ages of the fathers and mothers ranged from 27 to 69 years (M = 39.12, SD = 4.53) and 25 to 65 years (M = 37.14, SD = 4.14), respectively. Nearly 82% of the fathers and 76% of the mothers completed high school, and approximately half of the sample had completed at least some college education (51.15% for fathers and 44.56% for mothers). In terms of employment, 42.30% of the fathers and 48.61% of the mothers were employed in working-class jobs (e.g., factory workers), whereas 56.59% of the fathers and 49.88% of the mothers held a professional, managerial, or technical position (e.g., teachers, doctors, civil servants). The sample was largely a working- and middle-class sample. Measures Parental harsh discipline. A Chinese version of the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scales (CTSPC; Chan, 2005; Straus et al., 1998) was used to assess parents’ discipline strategies in conflict situations. The CTSPC was developed as an extension of the original Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS) developed by Straus (1979). The 22-item CTSPC includes five subscales: Nonviolent Discipline (4 items), Psychological Aggression (5 items), Corporal Punishment (6 items), Severe Physical Abuse (3 items), and Very Severe Physical Abuse (4 items). Preliminary analyses suggested that the occurrence of very severe physical abuse was very low (3.1% for both mothers and fathers) in the present study; thus, the Very Severe Physical Abuse subscale was excluded in subsequent analyses. Thus, of these subscales, the PA (verbal and symbolic acts by the parent intended to cause psychological pain or fear on the part of the child, e.g., “shouted, yelled, or screamed”), CP (the use of physical force with the intention of causing a child to experience pain, but not injury, for the purpose of correction or control of the child’s behavior, e.g., “spanked on bottom with bare hand”), and SPA (parents’ use of physical violence to inflict pain and injury on their children, which is more severe than that allowed by laws for disciplining children, e.g., “hit with a fist or kicked hard”) were the primary focus of the current study. Both fathers and mothers responded to CTSPC items separately to indicate how often they engaged in each discipline strategy during the previous year: never, once, twice, 3–5 times, 6–10 times, 11–20 times, or more than 20 times. According to this scale, the prevalence and frequency of the three types of harsh discipline occurring in the past year were calculated. Specifically, the prevalence rate of the three types of harsh discipline is the percentage of individuals in the sample who used one or more instances of the acts in each subscale in the previous year. The frequency of the three types of harsh discipline is the mean number of times obtained by summing the frequency scores of the subscale items among the subset of parents who reported at least one occurrence. Following the scoring methods as suggested by Straus et al. (1998), the midpoints of each response category were used to calculate the frequency scores for each CTSPC item (0 = 0, 1 = 1, 2 = 2, 3–5 = 4, 6–10 = 8, 11–20 = 15, and more than 20 = 25). Previous research with Chinese samples has demonstrated the adequate reliability and validity of this scale (Chan, 2005; Wong, Chen, Goggins, Tang, & Leung, 2009; Xing et al., 2011; Xing & Wang, 2012). In the present study, Cronbach’s alphas for PA, CP, and SPA were 0.71, 0.72, and 0.67 for the fathers’ reports, respectively, and 0.70, 0.71, and 0.51 for the mothers’ reports, respectively. Although not particularly high, these alpha coefficients are in agreement with those reported in other large-scale studies using the CTSPC (Fine, Trentacosta, Izard, Mostow, & Campbell, 2004; Lau, Litrownik, Newton, Black, & Everson, 2006; Straus et al., 1998). Demographic characteristics. Demographic information was collected from both the fathers and the mothers. The information collected included the child’s gender (boy/girl) and age, the parent’s gender (father/mother) and age, family composition, paternal/maternal education (elementary school or less/junior high school/senior high school/college or university/graduate or above), and current occupation of the father and mother. The SES of each family was calculated by using the parents’ educational status and current occupations (Shi & Shen, 2007). Three groups of families were differentiated based on their SES scores, using a criterion of one standard deviation above and below the mean. As a result, 437 families were included in the high SES group, 517 were included in the low SES group, and 1,057 were included in the middle SES group; the other 57 were unclassified. Data analysis All analyses were conducted in SPSS 15.0. First of all, the prevalence and frequency of the three types of parental harsh discipline were calculated, and Pearson chi-square test was used to investigate differences in discipline percentage between boys and girls, fathers and mothers, and among child age groups and SES groups. Additionally, t test was used to investigate differences in the frequency of the three types of parental harsh discipline between boys and girls and between fathers and Please cite this article in press as: Wang, M., & Liu, L. Parental harsh discipline in mainland China: Prevalence, frequency, and coexistence. Child Abuse & Neglect (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.02.016

G Model CHIABU-2744; No. of Pages 10

ARTICLE IN PRESS

4

M. Wang, L. Liu / Child Abuse & Neglect xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

mothers, and ANOVA was used to investigate the frequency differences among child age groups and SES groups. Logistic regression analyses and ANCOVA were conducted to determine whether the prevalence and frequency of parental harsh discipline varied with the parent’s age, after controlling for the child’s age. Second, interaction effects of demographic factors on the three types of parental harsh discipline were examined. Third, the percentage of the various types of parental harsh discipline occurring in isolation, in pairs, or all together was calculated. The Pearson chi-square test was used to determine whether there was significant difference among the distribution of the three types of parental harsh discipline. Finally, the coexistence of maternal and paternal harsh discipline was calculated. The Pearson chi-square test was used to examine child gender differences of the coexistence of maternal and paternal harsh discipline. Results Table 1 illustrates the results regarding the use of PA, CP, and SPA in the past year for the entire sample, which included the parents of children between the ages of 3 and 15. As shown in Table 1, the prevalences of PA, CP, and SPA reported by mothers in the previous year were 80.34%, 53.73%, and 15.05%, respectively, and 74.94%, 48.29%, and 12.91% of fathers reported PA, CP, and SPA, respectively. Parent and child characteristics associated with harsh discipline Gender of parent. As presented in Table 1, significantly more mothers than fathers used PA, CP, and SPA against their children. With respect to the frequency, mothers reported significantly more frequent use of PA and CP than fathers; however, this gender difference was insignificant for mothers’ and fathers’ use of SPA. Age of parent. The sample was divided into three age categories: 35 and below, 36–40, and 41 and over. These categories approximately represent the youngest and oldest quartile and the middle half of the parents participating in the present study. Table 2 shows the rates for the three types of harsh discipline by the three parent age groups. Logistic regression analyses were used to investigate associations between parent age and the prevalence of the three types of parental harsh discipline, controlling for the child’s age. Significant age group differences were only found for paternal reports of PA and CP, with higher rates of PA and CP among fathers younger than 35 compared to fathers aged 36–40 (for PA: OR = 1.42, 95% CI [1.00, 2.02]; for CP: OR = 1.59, 95% CI [1.19, 2.13]). Regarding the frequency of discipline (Table 3), there were no significant age group differences for any of the three types of parental harsh discipline after controlling for the age of the child.

Table 1 Prevalence and frequency of three types of parental harsh discipline. Frequency (M ± SD)

Prevalence (%)

Psychological aggression Threatened to spank or hit Shouted, yelled, or screamed Swore or cursed Called him/her dumb or lazy or some other name like that Threatened to send away or kick out of house Corporal punishment Spanked on bottom with bare hand Hit on the bottom with a belt, a hairbrush, a stick or some other hard object Slapped on the hand, arm, or leg Pinched him/her Shook him/her Slapped on the face, head or ears Severe physical abuse Hit some other part of the body besides the bottom with a belt, a hairbrush, a stick Threw or knocked down Hit with a fist or kicked hard * **

By mothers

By fathers

2

By mothers

80.34 73.22 12.30 23.54 48.36

74.94 65.16 12.76 19.21 45.60

21.16** 38.56** 0.29 12.73** 3.79

12.39 6.92 4.21 2.94 5.23

27.88

26.51

1.21

53.73 39.30

48.29 34.32

14.91** 13.69**

10.27

9.49

23.22

± ± ± ± ±

14.57 7.26 5.77 3.95 6.31

By fathers 11.35 6.24 4.14 2.57 5.10

± ± ± ± ±

13.70 6.83 5.79 2.97 6.00

t 2.28* 2.84** 0.16 1.80 0.54

3.68 ± 4.75

3.68 ± 5.06

0.01

7.39 ± 11.05 4.19 ± 4.92

6.54 ± 10.40 3.68 ± 4.55

2.01* 2.31*

0.52

3.32 ± 4.94

2.79 ± 4.14

1.35

16.85

30.59**

3.15 ± 4.16

3.05 ± 4.39

0.38

11.95 13.43 12.80

8.16 12.73 12.30

16.00** 0.71 0.34

2.95 ± 4.00 3.17 ± 4.46 2.37 ± 3.29

2.52 ± 3.86 3.14 ± 4.56 2.78 ± 4.25

1.26 0.07 −1.40

15.05 4.04

12.91 3.92

4.82* 0.04

4.23 ± 7.36 3.17 ± 5.64

4.35 ± 7.79 3.17 ± 5.51

−0.21 −0.01

3.02 11.53

3.47 10.51

0.75 1.55

1.56 ± 2.90 3.29 ± 5.20

1.57 ± 2.68 2.93 ± 4.70

−0.03 0.90

p < 0.05. p < 0.01.

Please cite this article in press as: Wang, M., & Liu, L. Parental harsh discipline in mainland China: Prevalence, frequency, and coexistence. Child Abuse & Neglect (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.02.016

G Model

ARTICLE IN PRESS

CHIABU-2744; No. of Pages 10

M. Wang, L. Liu / Child Abuse & Neglect xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

5

Table 2 Prevalence (%) of three types of parental harsh discipline and gender, parents’ age and SES comparison. Age of parent

MPA PPA MCP PCP MSPA PSPA

SES

Gender of child

35 and below

36–40

41 and above

Low SES

Middle SES

High SES



Boys

Girls

2

86.21 83.96 68.23 65.66 13.67 10.57

78.30 73.01 47.44 47.05 16.12 13.41

74.40 71.85 43.47 38.80 14.40 13.71

80.08 76.60 46.42 44.49 16.25 17.79

79.83 73.52 54.61 46.98 15.99 12.34

81.07 78.03 57.21 55.38 11.21 9.38

0.30 4.59 13.55** 12.71** 6.56* 16.18**

82.54 76.49 59.81 55.31 17.07 16.83

78.03 73.31 47.36 40.93 12.94 8.79

8.12** 3.39 39.28** 52.15** 8.39** 36.24**

2

Note: Maternal psychological aggression (MPA); paternal psychological aggression (PPA); maternal corporal punishment (MCP); paternal corporal punishment (PCP); maternal severe physical abuse (MSPA); paternal severe physical abuse (PSPA). * p < 0.05. ** p < .0.01.

SES. The Pearson chi-square tests indicated that there were significant differences among SES groups with respect to the prevalence of maternal and paternal CP and SPA, with more mothers and fathers in the low SES group implementing SPA and more mothers and fathers in the high SES group implementing CP. No significant differences among SES groups were found for maternal and paternal PA (Table 2). Regarding the frequency of discipline, one-way ANOVAs showed that there were no significant differences among SES groups for any type of parental harsh discipline (Table 3). Gender of child. The Pearson chi-square tests showed that significantly more boys than girls received maternal PA, maternal and paternal CP, and maternal and paternal SPA (Table 2). Regarding the frequency, significant gender differences were found only for paternal CP (Table 3). Age of child (age trends in prevalence of parental harsh discipline). The Pearson chi-square tests indicated that there were significant child age group differences in the prevalence of maternal and paternal PA, CP, and SPA (for maternal PA: 2 = 64.07, p < 0.01; for paternal PA: 2 = 55.90, p < 0.01; for maternal CP, 2 = 202.65, p < 0.01; for paternal CP, 2 = 142.70, p < 0.01; for maternal SPA: 2 = 42.36, p < 0.01; for paternal SPA: 2 = 33.23, p < 0.01). Fig. 1 illustrates age trends in the prevalence of the three types of parental harsh discipline. Similar patterns were found for fathers and mothers separately. As a whole, the prevalence of parental PA and CP decreased significantly with children’s age, and the prevalence of SPA showed an initial increase and subsequent decrease with child age. Specifically, more than 80% of parents with children aged 3–6 reported the use of PA. The percentages then rose slightly, reaching a peak at age 7 (91.38% for mothers and 86.21% for fathers). Thereafter, PA declined with age but remained high even at age 15 (73.51% for mothers and 74.25% for fathers). The prevalence of both maternal and paternal CP declined with age from age 3 through age 15. However, for maternal and paternal SPA, the rates increased from age 3 to age 7, dropped from age 7 to age 12, and subsequently remained stable to age 15. Moreover, it is important to note that all three types of parental harsh discipline occurred most prevalently in 7-year-old children when they began their formal schooling. Age of child (age trends in frequency of parental harsh discipline). Significant age group differences were noted for maternal and paternal PA (for maternal PA: F(12, 2010) = 3.96, p < 0.01; for paternal PA: F(12, 1874) = 2.30, p < 0.01). Fig. 2 illustrates how often parents used harsh discipline. The developmental patterns of the frequency for mothers were similar to those for fathers. As shown in Fig. 2, the frequency of parental PA, CP, and SPA fluctuated depending on the age of the children. Specifically, the frequency of all three types of parental harsh discipline increased from age 3 through 7, decreased from age 7 through 11 or 12, and then subsequently began to increase again to age 15. Similar to the results for prevalence, the frequency of parental harsh discipline was also highest in 7-year-old children (the average times were 20.13 and 13.18 for maternal and paternal PA, respectively, 11.20 and 9.59 for maternal and paternal CP, respectively, and 3.96 and 7.39 for maternal and paternal SPA, respectively).

100

Percent

PPA 80

MPA

60

PCP MCP

40

PSPA

20

MSPA

0 3

4

5

6

7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Child Age

Fig. 1. Prevalence of parental harsh discipline by child’s age.

Please cite this article in press as: Wang, M., & Liu, L. Parental harsh discipline in mainland China: Prevalence, frequency, and coexistence. Child Abuse & Neglect (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.02.016

± ± ± ± ± ±

14.97 13.31 11.74 11.05 5.79 4.52

11.53 11.24 7.03 6.64 4.49 3.38

± ± ± ± ± ±

14.24 13.94 10.84 10.48 8.01 8.06

11.43 10.42 6.54 6.09 4.39 4.75

± ± ± ± ± ±

14.43 13.56 9.08 9.52 7.70 8.68

Gender of child

F

Low SES

0.67 0.85 0.44 0.11 0.10 0.11

11.61 10.99 6.67 6.02 3.98 3.72

± ± ± ± ± ±

Middle SES 13.75 13.14 8.43 9.13 6.53 7.03

12.26 11.31 7.38 6.71 4.20 4.89

± ± ± ± ± ±

13.94 13.93 11.13 11.65 7.49 8.88

High SES 12.97 11.57 7.84 6.31 4.96 3.56

± ± ± ± ± ±

16.82 13.70 12.85 7.44 8.43 3.26

F

Boys

0.84 0.17 0.70 0.42 0.29 0.93

12.81 11.62 7.89 7.29 4.66 4.77

Girls ± ± ± ± ± ±

14.52 13.82 11.64 11.15 8.48 8.40

11.91 11.07 6.73 5.47 3.64 3.51

t ± ± ± ± ± ±

14.62 13.56 10.18 9.15 5.41 6.36

1.40 0.87 1.95 3.12** 1.43 1.52

Note: Maternal psychological aggression (MPA); paternal psychological aggression (PPA); maternal corporal punishment (MCP); paternal corporal punishment (PCP); maternal severe physical abuse (MSPA); paternal severe physical abuse (PSPA). * p < 0.05. ** p < .0.01.

ARTICLE IN PRESS

13.98 12.81 8.04 6.80 3.67 3.47

41 and above

G Model

MPA PPA MCP PCP MSPA PSPA

SES 36–40

CHIABU-2744; No. of Pages 10

35 and below

M. Wang, L. Liu / Child Abuse & Neglect xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

Age of parent

6

Please cite this article in press as: Wang, M., & Liu, L. Parental harsh discipline in mainland China: Prevalence, frequency, and coexistence. Child Abuse & Neglect (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.02.016

Table 3 Frequency (M ± SD) of three types of parental harsh discipline and gender, parents’ age and SES comparison.

G Model

ARTICLE IN PRESS

CHIABU-2744; No. of Pages 10

M. Wang, L. Liu / Child Abuse & Neglect xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

7

Mean number of times

25 PPA 20

MPA PCP

15

MCP

10

PSPA 5

MSPA

0 3

4

5

6

7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Child Age

Fig. 2. Frequency of parental harsh discipline by child’s age.

Interaction effects Univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to examine the two-way interaction effects of independent variables on the frequency of the three types of parental harsh discipline. The interaction effects included child gender × child age, child gender × parent gender, child gender × mother age, child gender × father age, child gender × SES, child age × parent gender, child age × mother age, child age × father age, child age × SES, parent gender × parent age, parent gender × SES, mother age × SES, and father age × SES. No significant interactions were found in any of the dependent variables. Coexistence of various types of harsh discipline For the purposes of investigating the coexistence of different types of parental harsh discipline, the participating mothers and fathers were divided separately into four categories: (a) never implementing any harsh discipline, (b) only implementing one type of harsh discipline, (c) implementing two types of harsh discipline, and (d) implementing three types of harsh discipline. As shown in Table 4, 17.16% of mothers and 21.60% of fathers never implemented any harsh discipline, 30.34% of mothers and 32.21% of fathers implemented a single type of harsh discipline, and approximately 50% of the mothers and fathers implemented two or three types of violence. Further analyses indicated that in the single type of harsh discipline, the proportion of parental PA was high (28.16% for mothers and 28.95% for fathers), and the proportions of maternal and paternal CP and SPA were much lower, ranging from 0.08% to 3.14%. When two types of harsh discipline coexisted, the proportion of PA concomitant with CP was the highest (37.53% for mothers and 33.40% for fathers), and the proportions of PA concomitant with SPA and CP concomitant with SPA were very low (0.20–1.03%). Parents who implemented PA concomitant with CP composed the majority of the sample who reported CP (95.49% for mothers and 93.09% for fathers). Similarly, analysis of the coexistence of the three types of maternal and paternal harsh discipline showed that the majority of parents who used SPA (91.56% of mothers and 89.54% of fathers) also used both PA and CP. In summary, severe forms of disciplinary practices generally coexisted with less severe forms of harsh disciplinary practices. Specifically, SPA generally coexisted with CP and PA, and CP was usually accompanied by PA. PA was more likely to occur independently compared with CP and SPA. Coexistence of maternal harsh discipline and paternal harsh discipline The results regarding the coexistence of the three types of maternal harsh discipline and paternal harsh discipline showed that the coexistence decreased with increasing severity of parental harsh discipline. Specifically, the proportion of maternal PA concomitant with paternal PA was highest (67.12%), and this proportion was much lower for CP (36.97%) and lowest for SPA (5.48%). In addition, Pearson chi-square tests indicated that the coexistence of maternal and paternal PA, CP, and SPA is Table 4 Proportion of the coexistence of three types of parental harsh discipline. None

Mothers Fathers

N % N %

432 17.16 544 21.60

Single discipline type

Coexistence of two discipline types

PA

CP

SPA

PA and CP

PA and SPA

CP and SPA

709 28.16 729 28.95

53 2.10 79 3.14

2 0.08 3 0.12

945 37.53 841 33.40

22 0.87 26 1.03

8 0.32 5 0.20

Coexistence of three discipline types

347 13.78 291 11.56

Total

2518 100 2518 100

Note: Psychological aggression (PA); corporal punishment (CP); severe physical abuse (SPA).

Please cite this article in press as: Wang, M., & Liu, L. Parental harsh discipline in mainland China: Prevalence, frequency, and coexistence. Child Abuse & Neglect (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.02.016

G Model CHIABU-2744; No. of Pages 10

ARTICLE IN PRESS

8

M. Wang, L. Liu / Child Abuse & Neglect xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

significantly higher for boys than for girls (for PA: 79.52% vs. 75.67%, 2 = 10.73, p < 0.01; for CP: 57.56% vs. 44.14%, 2 = 90.72, p < 0.01; for SPA: 16.95% vs. 10.86%, 2 = 38.79, p < 0.01).

Discussion The present study is the first large-scale survey performed in mainland China to explore the basic characteristics of three types of parental harsh discipline. Overall, data from parent-reported questionnaire surveys in this study indicated that parental harsh discipline is prevalent in mainland China. The rates of PA, CP, and SPA reported by mothers in the previous year were 80.34%, 53.73%, and 15.05%, respectively, and 74.94%, 48.29%, and 12.91% of fathers reported PA, CP, and SPA, respectively. The rates of harsh discipline in the current study fell in the middle of the ranges of rates found in other studies using the CTS or CTSPC. For example, the prevalence of PA was 88.6% in the United States (Straus & Field, 2003), 79.6% in Canada (Clément & Chamberland, 2007), and 75% in Sri Lanka (de Zoysa, Newcombe, & Rajapakse, 2010). The prevalence of CP was 61.4% in United States (Straus et al., 1998), 57.5% in Hong Kong (Tang, 2006), and 42.9% in Canada (Clément & Chamberland, 2007). The prevalence of SPA was 25.3% in the United States (Rodriguez, 2006), 15.7% in Brazil (Alexandre, Nadanovsky, Moraes, & Reichenheim, 2010), and 4.5% in Hong Kong (Tang, 2006). It should be noted that the prevalence is much lower for some of the individual items in the present study. For example, “shouting/yelling/screaming” is less prevalent in this sample (12.30% for mothers and 12.76% for fathers) compared with samples from the United States (84.7%; Straus et al., 1998). These results suggest that the rates of different forms of PA may vary according to cultures. Further research is required to examine the cross-cultural differences in the individual modes of harsh discipline. Consistent with previous studies (Gershoff, 2002; Straus & Stewart, 1999; Tang, 2006), the present study found that compared with fathers, mothers reported higher rates and more frequent use of harsh discipline on their children. This result may be explained by the fact that mothers are typically their children’s primary caregivers in China (Wong et al., 2009). Hence, compared to fathers, mothers may have more opportunities to conflict with their children and in turn implement a higher level of harsh discipline (Chan, 1994; Milner, 1994). Furthermore, our finding that younger vs. older fathers reported higher levels of PA and CP is also consistent with earlier findings that corporal punishment is a common discipline strategy among young parents (Straus et al., 1998; Tang, 2006). A possible reason for this finding is that young fathers may have limited parenting abilities and experience managing their children; additionally, they may have experienced high levels of economic stress (Tang, 2006). Also consistent with most previous studies that have found strong associations between physical aggression and low SES (Berger, 2005; Pinderhughes et al., 2000; Straus, Gelles, & Steinmetz, 2006; Straus & Stewart, 1999), the present study indicated that more low SES parents used SPA toward their children. However, more high SES parents used CP in this sample, which is inconsistent with most previous studies. One possible explanation for this finding is that the one-child policy in mainland China, which was first implemented in 1979, may result in very high parental expectations for the family’s sole child, especially among higher SES families (Wong et al., 2009). This in turn may further increase the likelihood that high SES Chinese parents would adopt CP to ensure their children’s satisfactory performance. The present study also found that parents used more harsh discipline toward boys than girls, which is consistent with previous research on harsh discipline (McKee et al., 2007; Straus & Stewart, 1999). There are two possible reasons for these gender differences. First, it may be the case that boys are more likely than girls to exhibit problem behavior that elicits parental harsh discipline (Ruble & Martin, 1998; Gershoff, 2002). Second, based on gender role stereotypes, parents may believe that boys require more harsh discipline than girls to correct their misbehavior (McKee et al., 2007). In traditional Chinese culture, boys are expected to continue the family line once they reach adulthood and become primary providers for their own families and aged parents (Wu, 1996a). Thus, there is a stronger tendency for parents to implement harsh discipline to ensure their boys’ satisfactory performance (Ho, 1986; Wu, 1996a). With regard to child age trends, similar patterns were found for paternal and maternal harsh discipline in the present study. Similar to previous studies on harsh parental discipline in the United States (Straus & Field, 2003; Straus & Stewart, 1999), the current study showed that the prevalence of parental PA and CP declined from age 3 through age 15 in China. However, the prevalence of SPA showed an increase at the beginning but subsequently decreased slightly for older children. Extrapolating from the age trends in the prevalence of parental harsh discipline, we speculated that the results may reflect a change from PA and CP to nonviolent forms of discipline (e.g., reasoning and withdrawal of privileges) or a shift from psychological or mild physical discipline to more severe physical discipline practices (e.g., SPA) as the children get older. Further research is needed to clarify this speculation. As with the age trends in frequency, a similar pattern was found for all three types of harsh discipline: it increased from age 3 through 7, decreased from age 7 through 11 or 12, and subsequently started to increase again to age 15. In contrast, other investigations using samples from the United States have reported less fluctuation (Straus & Field, 2003; Straus & Stewart, 1999). Specifically, the frequency of PA reported by U.S. parents increased from infancy to age 5 and subsequently decreased with age. The frequency of CP reported by U.S. parents declined from age 2 through age 17. It should be noted that in US samples, harsh discipline generally peaks in the preschool years (Straus & Field, 2003; Straus & Stewart, 1999), whereas in the present study, all three types of harsh discipline occurred most prevalently and frequently in 7-year-old children when they began their formal schooling. At this time, parents may tend to exercise harsh discipline to motive their children to achieve high academic and social goals (Tang, 1998). More importantly, children are Please cite this article in press as: Wang, M., & Liu, L. Parental harsh discipline in mainland China: Prevalence, frequency, and coexistence. Child Abuse & Neglect (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.02.016

G Model CHIABU-2744; No. of Pages 10

ARTICLE IN PRESS M. Wang, L. Liu / Child Abuse & Neglect xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

9

often perceived as being capable of understanding, or dongshi, at approximately 6–7 years of age in China (Ho, 1986; Wu, 1996b). Early childhood prior to dongshi is a protected time in which Chinese parents may have fewer demands and exhibit gentler treatment of little children. The expectations and intolerance may increase sharply after dongshi. Thus, Chinese parents may view increasing numbers of child behavior problems as inappropriate and therefore use more harsh discipline once children reach the age of dongshi (Ho, 1986; Nelson, Hart, Yang, Olsen, & Jin, 2006; Wu, 1996b). Regarding the coexistence of three types of harsh discipline, this study showed that approximately 50% of the mothers and fathers who reported using severe forms of disciplinary practices also engaged in less severe forms of harsh disciplinary practices against their children. PA could occur alone, CP was often accompanied by PA, and SPA generally coexisted with CP and PA. It is possible that parental harsh discipline begins with PA and further escalates to CP or SPA. Research has suggested that the aggressive or delinquent behavior of a child may lead parents to use harsher forms of discipline if milder techniques are not successful (Sheehan & Watson, 2008). In addition, these findings draw attention to the effects of parental harsh discipline on children’s adjustment. As suggested by our research, the effects of CP may be confounded by the combined effects of PA and CP, and the effects of SPA may be confounded by the combined effects of PA, CP, and SPA in previous studies. Based on the results of the present study, we also found that maternal harsh discipline coexisted with paternal harsh discipline, and the coexistence decreased with increasing severity of parental harsh discipline. In addition, the coexistence of maternal and paternal harsh discipline was higher for boys than for girls. These findings lend further support to the notion that a malfunction in one parent-child subsystem can spill over to another subsystem, and they also suggest that in China, the spillover effects may differ according to child gender. Several limitations of the current study should be noted. First, we obtained information on parental harsh discipline from parents’ retrospective self-reports, which may contain substantial error because of “false memories” or inaccurate reporting. Second, all the participants came from two-parent families; thus, caution must be taken when generalizing the findings to children in other family constellations. Finally, due to the cross-sectional design of the present study, age effects should be interpreted cautiously, as they may be confounded by cohort effects. Future research using longitudinal designs may be able to address this limitation. Despite these limitations, the present study provides valuable information and has important practical implications. First, potential intervention programs should target PA because it is the most common form of parental harsh discipline in mainland China and previous interventions have focused less attention on preventing PA. Second, the current findings provide strong empirical evidence that appropriate prevention intervention efforts are needed to target mothers, young fathers, parents with boys, parents of 7-year-old children, and high or low SES parents. Third, the results regarding the coexistence of the three types of harsh discipline suggest that we should not ignore the importance of preventing less severe forms of discipline when we intervene on more severe forms of discipline. Finally, the findings regarding the coexistence of maternal and paternal harsh discipline highlight the importance of intervening on harsh and coercive parenting by mothers and fathers within the same family. Acknowledgments We are grateful to all the children, parents, and teachers who participated or contributed to this project. References Alexandre, G. C., Nadanovsky, P., Moraes, C. L., & Reichenheim, M. (2010). The presence of a stepfather and child physical abuse, as reported by a sample of Brazilian mothers in Rio de Janeiro. Child Abuse & Neglect, 34, 959–966. Barnett, M. A., Deng, M., Mills-Koonce, R., Willoughby, M., & Cox, M. (2008). Interdependence of parenting of mothers and fathers of infants. Journal of Family Psychology, 22, 561–573. Belsky, J. (1984). The determinants of parenting: A process model. Child Development, 55, 83–96. Belsky, J. (1993). Etiology of child maltreatment: A developmental-ecological analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 114, 413–434. Berger, L. M. (2005). Income, family characteristics, and physical violence toward children. Child Abuse & Neglect, 29, 107–133. Capaldi, D. M., Pears, K. C., Kerr, D. C. R., & Owen, L. D. (2008). Intergenerational and partner influences on fathers’ negative discipline. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36, 347–358. Chan, E. K. L. (2005). Study on child abuse and spouse battering: Report on findings of household survey (A Consultancy Study Commissioned by the SWD of the HKSAR). Pokfulam, Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong, Department of Social Work & Social Administration. Chan, Y. C. (1994). Parenting stress and social support of mothers who physically abuse their children in Hong Kong. Child Abuse & Neglect, 18, 261–269. Chao, R. K. (1994). Beyond parental control and authoritarian parenting style: Understanding Chinese parenting through the cultural notion of training. Child Development, 65, 1111–1119. Clément, M.-È., & Chamberland, C. (2007). Physical violence and psychological aggression towards children: Five-year trends in practices and attitudes from two population surveys. Child Abuse & Neglect, 31, 1001–1011. Cummings, E. M., & Davies, P. T. (2002). Effects of marital conflict on children: Recent advances and emerging themes in process-oriented research. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 43, 31–63. de Zoysa, P., Newcombe, P. A., & Rajapakse, L. (2010). Outcomes of parental use of psychological aggression on children: A structural model from Sri Lanka. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 25, 1542–1560. Fine, S. E., Trentacosta, C. J., Izard, C. E., Mostow, A. J., & Campbell, J. L. (2004). Anger perception, caregivers’ use of physical discipline, and aggression in children at risk. Social Development, 13, 213–228. ˜ Gámez-Guadix, M., Straus, M. A., Carrobles, J. A., Munoz-Rivas, M. J., & Almendros, C. (2010). Corporal punishment and long-term behavior problems: The moderating role of positive parenting and psychological aggression. Psicothema, 22, 529–536. Gershoff, E. T. (2002). Corporal punishment by parents and associated child behaviors and experiences: A meta-analytic and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 539–579.

Please cite this article in press as: Wang, M., & Liu, L. Parental harsh discipline in mainland China: Prevalence, frequency, and coexistence. Child Abuse & Neglect (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.02.016

G Model CHIABU-2744; No. of Pages 10

ARTICLE IN PRESS

10

M. Wang, L. Liu / Child Abuse & Neglect xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

Gershoff, E. T. (2008). Report on physical punishment in the United States: What research tells us about its effects on children. Columbus, OH: Center for Effective Discipline. Gershoff, E. T., Grogan-Kaylor, A., Lansford, J. E., Chang, L., Zelli, A., Deater-Deckard, K., & Dodge, K. A. (2010). Parent discipline practices in an international sample: Associations with child behaviors and moderation by perceived normativeness. Child Development, 81, 487–502. Ghate, D., Hazel, N., Creighton, S., Finch, S., & Field, J. (2003). The national study of parents, children and discipline in the Britain: Summary of key finding. London, England: Policy Research Bureau. Grusec, J. E., & Kuczynski, L. (1980). Direction of effect in socialization: A comparison of the parents’ versus child’s behavior as determinants of disciplinary techniques. Developmental Psychology, 16, 1–9. Harper, F. W. K., Brown, A. M., Arias, I., & Brody, G. (2006). Corporal punishment and kids: How do parent support and gender influence child adjustment? Journal of Family Violence, 21, 197–207. Ho, D. Y. F. (1986). Chinese patterns of socialization: A critical review. In M. H. Bond (Ed.), The psychology of the Chinese people (pp. 1–37). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Hou, J., Yu, L., Ting, S.-M., Sze, Y., & Fang, X. (2011). The status and characteristics of couple violence in China. Journal of Family Violence, 26, 81–92. Jackson, A. P., Gyamfi, P., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Blake, M. (1998). Employment status, psychological well-being, social support, and physical discipline practices of single black mothers. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60, 894–902. Lansford, J. E., Chang, L., Dodge, K. A., Malone, P. S., Oburu, P., Palmérus, K., & Quinn, N. (2005). Physical discipline and children’s adjustment: Cultural normativeness as a moderator. Child Development, 76, 1234–1246. Lau, A. S., Litrownik, A. L., Newton, R. R., Black, M. M., & Everson, M. D. (2006). Factors affecting the link between physical discipline and child externalizing problems in black and white families. Journal of Community Psychology, 34, 89–103. Lewis, M. (2005). The child and its family: The social network model. Human Development, 48, 8–27. Lin, C.-Y. C., & Fu, V. R. (1990). A comparison of child-rearing practices among Chinese, immigrant Chinese, and Caucasian-American parents. Child Development, 61, 429–433. Liu, L., Wang, M., & Xing, X. (2011). Parental psychological aggression: Intergenerational transmission and the moderating effect of spouse’s psychological aggression. Advances in Psychological Science, 19, 328–335. Ma, Y., Chen, J., Xiao, W., Wang, F., & Zhang, M. (2011). Parents’ self-reporting of child physical maltreatment in Yuncheng City, China. Child Abuse & Neglect, 35, 592–600. McKee, L., Roland, E., Coffelt, N., Olson, A. L., Forehand, R., Massari, C., & Zens, M. S. (2007). Harsh discipline and child problem behaviors: The roles of positive parenting and gender. Journal of Family Violence, 22, 187–196. Miller-Perrin, C. L., Perrin, R. D., & Kocur, J. L. (2009). Parental physical and psychological aggression: Psychological symptoms in young adults. Child Abuse & Neglect, 33, 1–11. Milner, J. S. (1994). Assessing physical child abuse risk: The child abuse potential inventory. Clinical Psychology Review, 14, 547–583. Nelson, D. A., Hart, C. H., Yang, C., Olsen, J. A., & Jin, S. (2006). Aversive parenting in China: Associations with child physical and relational aggression. Child Development, 77, 554–572. Pinderhughes, E. E., Dorge, K. A., Bates, J. E., Pettit, G. S., & Zelli, A. (2000). Discipline responses: Influences of parents’ socioeconomic status, ethnicity, beliefs about parenting, stress, and cognitive-emotional processes. Journal of Family Psychology, 14, 380–400. Rodriguez, C. M. (2006). Attributional style as a mediator between parental abuse risk and child internalizing symptomatology. Child Maltreatment, 11, 121–130. Ruble, D. N., & Martin, C. L. (1998). Gender development. In W. Damon, & E. Eisenberg (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Social, emotional, and personality development (Vol. 3, 5th ed.) (pp. 933–1016). New York, NY: Wiley. Sheehan, M. J., & Watson, M. W. (2008). Reciprocal influences between maternal discipline techniques and aggression in children and adolescents. Aggressive Behavior, 34, 245–255. Shi, B., & Shen, J. (2007). The relationships among family SES, intelligence, intrinsic motivation and creativity. Psychological Development and Education, 23, 30–34. Simons, R. L., Wu, C.-I., Lin, K.-H., Gordon, L., & Conger, R. D. (2000). A cross-cultural examination of the link between corporal punishment and adolescent antisocial behavior. Criminology, 38, 47–80. Straus, M. A. (1979). Measuring intrafamily conflict and violence: The Conflict Tactics (CT) Scales. Journal of Marriage and Family, 41, 75–88. Straus, M. A., & Field, C. J. (2003). Psychological aggression by American parents: National data on prevalence, chronicity, and severity. Journal of Marriage and Family, 65, 795–808. Straus, M. A., Gelles, R. J., & Steinmetz, S. K. (2006). Behind closed doors: Violence in the American family (2nd ed.). Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday. Straus, M. A., Hamby, S. L., Finkelhor, D., Moore, D. W., & Runyan, D. (1998). Identification of child maltreatment with the parent-child conflict tactics scales: Development and psychometric data for a national sample of American parents. Child Abuse & Neglect, 22, 249–270. Straus, M. A., & Stewart, J. H. (1999). Corporal punishment by American parents: National data on prevalence, chronicity, severity, and duration, in relation to child and family characteristics. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 2, 55–70. Tang, C. S. (1998). The rate of physical child abuse in Chinese families: A community survey in Hong Kong. Child Abuse & Neglect, 22, 381–391. Tang, C. S. (2006). Corporal punishment and physical maltreatment against children: A community study on Chinese parents in Hong Kong. Child Abuse & Neglect, 30, 893–907. Vissing, Y. M., Straus, M. A., Gelles, R. J., & Harrop, J. W. (1991). Verbal aggression by parents and psychosocial problems of children. Child Abuse & Neglect, 15, 223–238. Wong, W. C. W., Chen, W. Q., Goggins, W. B., Tang, C. S., & Leung, P. W. (2009). Individual, familial and community determinants of child physical abuse among high-school students in China. Social Science & Medicine, 68, 1819–1825. Wu, D. Y. H. (1996a). Chinese childhood socialization. In M. H. Bond (Ed.), The handbook of Chinese psychology (pp. 143–154). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Wu, D. Y. H. (1996b). Parental control: Psychocultural interpretations of Chinese patterns of socialization. In S. Lau (Ed.), Growing up the Chinese way: Chinese child and adolescent development (pp. 1–28). Sha Tin, Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press. Xing, X., & Wang, M. (2012). Sex differences in the reciprocal relationships between mild and severe corporal punishment and children’s internalizing problem behavior in a Chinese sample. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 34, 9–16. Xing, X., Wang, M., Zhang, Q., He, X., & Zhang, W. (2011). Gender differences in the reciprocal relationships between parental physical aggression and children’s externalizing problem behavior in China. Journal of Family Psychology, 25, 699–708. Yen, C.-F., Yang, M.-S., Yang, M.-J., Su, Y.-C., Wang, M.-H., & Lan, C.-M. (2008). Childhood physical and sexual abuse: Prevalence and correlates among adolescents living in rural Taiwan. Child Abuse & Neglect, 32, 429–438.

Please cite this article in press as: Wang, M., & Liu, L. Parental harsh discipline in mainland China: Prevalence, frequency, and coexistence. Child Abuse & Neglect (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.02.016