Ordinary physical punishment: Is it harmful? Comment on Gershoff (2002).

Comments on E. T. Gershoff's (2002) article (see record 2002-01514-001) which reviewed processes that might mediate and contexts that might moderate the associations between corporal punishment (CP) and child behaviors and provided an account of the methodological weaknesses of the research reviewed in her meta-analyses. In this examination of Gershoff, the authors argue that the biases and confounds in the meta-analyses further limit any causal inferences that can be drawn concerning the detrimental "effects" of CP on associated child behaviors. The authors suggest that undesirable child outcomes are associated with CP because the construct marks inept harsh parenting and conclude that although the harmful effects of physical abuse and other extreme punishments are clear, a blanket injunction against spanking is not justified by the evidence presented by Gershoff. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Punishment revisited--Science, values, and the right question: Comment on Gershoff (2002).

In this comment on E. T. Gershoff's (2002, see record 2002-01514-001) article on parental punishment, the author notes the historical phases of punishment research. Punishment as a disciplinary tactic is best viewed as a packaged variable and therefore needs to be investigated in the context of other socialization practices. The role of parental values in this debate about punishment utilization and effectiveness merits more consideration. New directions in punishment research are also noted. These include the need for a family-systems perspective, a family-typology approach, a transactional model of punishment, the use of innovation observation and self-report methods, and more culturally sensitive paradigms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Corporal punishment, physical abuse, and the burden of proof: Reply to Baumrind, Larzelere, and Cowan (2002), Holden (2002), and Parke (2002).

This reply explores issues reviewed in comments by D. Baumrind, R. E. Larzelere, and P. A. Cowan (2002, see record 2002-01514-002), G. W. Holden (2002, see record 2002-01514-003), and R. D. Parke (2002, see record 2002-01514-004) on E. T. Gershoff's (2002, see record 2002-01514-001) article on parental punishment. The current discussion includes how corporal punishment should be defined, how corporal punishment can be distinguished from physical abuse, and whether established associations with child behaviors are best thought of as parent- or child-driven effects. In light of their comments, Gershoff herein revises the process-context model, revisits the issue of whether current knowledge is sufficient to condemn the use of parental corporal punishment, and concludes that lack of demonstrated positive effects and the potential links to physical abuse argue for discouraging corporal punishment in favor of alternative methods of discipline. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Corporal punishment by parents and associated child behaviors and experiences: A meta-analytic and theoretical review.

Although the merits of parents using corporal punishment to discipline children have been argued for decades, a thorough understanding of whether and how corporal punishment affects children has not been reached. Toward this end, the author first presents the results of meta-analyses of the association between parental corporal punishment and 11 child behaviors and experiences. Parental corporal punishment was associated with all child constructs, including higher levels of immediate compliance and aggression and lower levels of moral internalization and mental health. The author then presents a process-context model to explain how parental corporal punishment might cause particular child outcomes and considers alternative explanations. The article concludes by identifying 7 major remaining issues for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The development of attitudes about physical punishment: An 8-year longitudinal study.

We examined young adolescents' endorsement of parental use of corporal punishment to elucidate processes underlying the intergenerational transmission of discipline strategies. The community sample was ethnically and socioeconomically diverse. Mothers completed interviews and questionnaires when the target children were entering kindergarten (n = 566) and views in 6th and 8th grades. Adolescents completed questionnaires when they were in 8th grade (n = 425). Adolescents' attitudes about corporal punishment varied widely. Those adolescents who had been spanked by their own mothers were more approving of this discipline cents method, regardless of the overall frequency, timing, or chronicity of physical discipline they had received. However, there was no correlation among adolescents for whom physical maltreatment in early or middle childhood was suspected. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An initial evaluation of the role of emotion and impulsivity in explaining racial/ethnic differences in the use of corporal punishment.

The authors sought to provide an initial evaluation of the hypothesis that corporal punishment is less strongly associated with parental emotion and impulsivity among African American (“Black”) in contrast to European American (“White”) parents. White–Latino and Black–Latino differences in corporal punishment, emotion, and impulsivity were explored, given the lack of existing theory predicting group differences. Couples with 3- to 7-year-old children were recruited via random digit dialing, and the parents completed questionnaires and an analog parent–child conflict task in the laboratory. Group differences were tested pooling mothers and fathers via dyadic data analyses. Black parents (N = 57) had more positive attitudes toward and used more corporal punishment than White parents (N = 730). Latino American parents' (N = 78) views and use of corporal punishment were similar to those of White parents. By and large, associations of corporal punishment with parents' impulsivity and emotion did not significantly vary by race/ethnicity. The present findings, although preliminary, do not support the emotion-impulsivity hypothesis of racial differences in the use of corporal punishment suggested by K. Deater-Deckard, K. A. Dodge, J. E. Bates, and G. S. Pettit (1996). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of child sexual abuse: Comment on Rind, Tromovitch, and Bauserman (1998).

Comments on the article by B. Rind, P. Tromovitch, and R. Bauserman (see record 1998-04232-002) which examined the long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) by meta-analyzing studies of college students. The authors reported that effects "were neither pervasive nor typically intense" and that "men reacted much less negatively than women" (p. 22) and recommended value-neutral reconceptualization of the CSA construct. The current analysis revealed numerous problems in that study that minimized CSA-adjustment relations, included use of a healthy sample, an inclusive definition of CSA, failure to correct for statistical attenuation, and misreporting of original data. Rind et al.'s study's main conclusions were not supported by the original data. As such, attempts to use their study to argue that an individual has not been harmed by sexual abuse constitute a serious misapplication of its findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of punishment (electric shock) on perceptual learning.

3 experiments were conducted to explore the consequences of the association of punishment with percepts and to trace its residual effects. Electric shock was associated with tactual profiles of faces. Voltage, temporal contiguity, and ability to escape shock were varied. The results showed that there was more reporting of the non-shocked profile as intensity of shock increased, that escape conditions lead to more reporting of the shocked profiles, the shocked profile is recalled more vividly, and as the delay between exposure and recall increases there is more reporting of the nonshocked profile. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex with children is abuse: Comment on Rind, Tromovitch, and Bauserman (1998).

Comments on the article by B. Rind, P. Tromovitch and R. Bauserman (see record 1998-04232-002) which reported a meta-analysis of the relation between sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence and psychological functioning among college students. Sever aspects of their work have proven highly controversial, including their assertion that the relation between child sexual abuse and adjustment is quite small and their questioning of whether child sexual abuse should be labeled abuse in scientific inquiry. In this commentary, the authors summarize the controversy that has ensued, place it in a historical context, discuss the limitations of B. Rind et al.'s findings, and critique the manner in which those findings are presented. The authors also argue for the appropriateness of the term abuse and for scientific terminology that reflects rather than contradicts consensual public morality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Misconceptions about Freud's seduction theory: Comment on Gleaves and Hernandez (1999).

D. H. Gleaves and E. Hernandez (see record 1999-01068-004) write in relation to the seduction theory that "recent writers now argue that... Freud never made discoveries of sexual abuse" (p. 332) and that "the assertion that Freud did not make discoveries of abuse is unwarranted" (p. 324). In this article an outline of the case that Freud had no adequate grounds for his 1896 claims of having uncovered infantile "sexual scenes" is given. Some of the more important misconceptions and erroneous arguments in Gleaves and Hernandez's article are then examined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk and promotive effects in the explanation of persistent serious delinquency in boys.

Risk and promotive effects were investigated as predictors of persistent serious delinquency in male participants of the Pittsburgh Youth Study (R. Loeber, D. P. Farrington, M. Stouthamer-Loeber, & W. B. van Kammen, 1998), living in different neighborhoods. Participants were studied over ages 13-19 years for the oldest sample and 7-13 years for the youngest sample. Risk and promotive effects were studied in 6 domains: child behavior, child attitudes, school and leisure activities, peer behaviors, family functioning, and demographics. Regression models improved when promotive effects were included with risk effects in predicting persistent serious delinquency. Disadvantaged neighborhoods, compared with better neighborhoods, had a higher prevalence of risk effects and a lower prevalence of promotive effects. However, predictive relations between risk and promotive effects and persistent serious delinquency were linear and similar across neighborhood socioeconomic status. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Wethinks the author doth protest too much: A reply to Esterson (2002).

A. Esterson (see record 2002-10275-005) responded to the authors' (see record 1999-01068-004) analysis of recent reformulations of Freud's seduction theory and alleged sexual abuse discoveries. Esterson gave several additional examples of the same type of problematic writing the authors discussed in their original article. His commentary is largely a repetition of several already-published arguments, and his numerous criticisms of the article are, in the authors' opinion, without merit. The authors address confusion over inferring abuse from symptoms, treatment of symptoms versus resolution of cases, and fathers as perpetrators of abuse. It is clear that, as long as the topic of child sexual abuse elicits heated debate, so will Freud's seduction theory, but there may be times when one needs to step back to allow a debate to move forward. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment of ADHD symptoms: Comment on Gomez et al. (2003).

R. Gomez, G. L. Burns, J. A. Walsh, and M. A. de Moura (see record 2003-02033-001) examined the degree to which parent and teacher ratings of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms are accounted for by trait, source, and error variance. The importance and limitations of Gomez et al.'s findings are discussed in the context of clinical and research assessments of children suspected of having ADHD. Gomez et al.'s findings make clear that multimethod and multisource assessment protocols should be used in diagnosing children with this disorder. Further, clinicians and researchers must avoid relying too heavily on 1 source of data when evaluating the severity and frequency of ADHD symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Limits of Child Effects: Evidence for Genetically Mediated Child Effects on Corporal Punishment but Not on Physical Maltreatment.

Research on child effects has demonstrated that children's difficult and coercive behavior provokes harsh discipline from adults. Using a genetically sensitive design, the authors tested the limits of child effects on adult behavior that ranged from the normative (corporal punishment) to the nonnormative (physical maltreatment). The sample was a 1994-1995 nationally representative birth cohort of 1,116 twins and their families who participated in the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Study. Results showed that environmental factors accounted for most of the variation in corporal punishment and physical maltreatment. However, corporal punishment was genetically mediated in part, and the genetic factors that influenced corporal punishment were largely the same as those that influenced children's antisocial behavior, suggesting a child effect. The authors conclude that risk factors for maltreatment are less likely to reside within the child and more likely to reside in characteristics that differ between families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Academic Socialization: Understanding Parental Influences on Children's School-Related Development in the Early Years.

This review summarizes the research literature on the academic socialization of children within the family context. A conceptual model is introduced that describes the process of academic socialization, including parental experiences in school, parental school-related cognitions, and specific parenting behaviors. Parental attitudes and practices provide the foundation for children's development of schemas about school performance and thus are critical determinants of children's early school experiences. In addition, recent efforts to understand the role of transition practices aimed at facilitating children's early adjustment in school are described. The present review extends the transition practices literature by providing a developmental perspective on parenting influences on children's academic socialization, within an ecological systems perspective. The authors describe academic socialization as a process that occurs under the broad umbrella of socioeconomic and cultural contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"The practice of forensic psychology: A look toward the future in light of the past": Comment on Otto and Heilbrun (2002).

Comments on the article by R. K. Otto and K. Heilbrun (see record 2002-10575-001) discussing the state of the field of forensic psychology. The current author objects to what he perceives as Otto and Heilbrun's attempt to discredit all but closely protected American Psychological Association (APA) affiliated organizations, and their subsequent biased comments based on poor research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A longitudinal investigation of the relationship between disordered eating attitudes and behaviors and parent–child conflict: A monozygotic twin differences design.

Few studies have examined nonshared environmental risk factors for disordered eating, and none have done so using a longitudinal design. The current project used a longitudinal, monozygotic twin differences design to examine parent–child conflict as a nonshared environmental risk factor for disordered eating. Participants included 468 monozygotic female twins (234 pairs) from the Minnesota Twin Family Study, who completed surveys every 3 years from ages 11 to 17 years. Twin differences in disordered eating were assessed with the Total Score, Body Dissatisfaction, Weight Preoccupation, and Binge Eating subscales of the Minnesota Eating Behavior Survey. Differences in parent–child conflict were assessed with the Parental Environment Questionnaire. Cross-lagged models were used to examine longitudinal associations among these variables, controlling for within-age associations. Only the longitudinal association between twin differences in disordered eating at age 14 years and differences in parent–child conflict at age 17 years were significant; twin differences in disordered eating predicted later differences in parent–child conflict rather than the reverse. Findings suggest differences in parent–child conflict between genetically identical twins may be a consequence of, rather than a risk factor for, differences in disordered eating. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Questions Raised by a Reasoned Action Approach: Comment on Ogden (2003).

In her critique of social cognition or reasoned action models, J. Ogden (see record 2003-05896-016) claimed that such models are not falsifiable and thus cannot be tested, that the postulated relations among model components are true by definition, and that questionnaires used to test the models may create rather than assess cognitions and thus influence later behavior. The authors of this comment challenge all 3 arguments and contend that the findings Ogden regarded as requiring rejection of the models are, in fact, consistent with them, that there is good evidence for the validity of measures used to assess the models' major constructs, and that the effect of completing a questionnaire on cognitions and subsequent behavior is an empirical question. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Attribution and expressed emotion in the relatives of patients with schizophrenia": Correction to Brewin, MacCarthy, Duda, and Vaughn (1991).

Reports an error in "Attribution and expressed emotion in the relatives of patients with schizophrenia" by Chris R. Brewin, Brigid MacCarthy, Karin Duda and Christine E. Vaughn (Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1991[Nov], Vol 100[4], 546-554). An incorrect sentence was published. The sentence that ends the fourth paragraph on p. 547 ought to read: A more recent onset of illness would be expected to produce more unstable attributions, and more disturbed behavior (particularly involving violence toward the relative) would be expected to produce attributions that were more internal and personal to the patient but more external and uncontrollable as regards the relative. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1992-12907-001.) Indexes of expressed emotion (EE) in 58 relatives of patients with schizophrenia were related to those relatives' spontaneously expressed causal beliefs about the illness and about related symptoms and behaviors. Relatives made attributions predominantly to factors external, universal, and uncontrollable from their own perspective, and to factors internal, universal, and uncontrollable from the patient's perspective. Low-EE relatives were similar in their attributions to emotionally overinvolved relatives. Compared with these 2 groups, critical and/or hostile relatives made more attributions to factors personal to and controllable by the patient. Subsequent analyses suggested that hostile relatives were further characterized by making more attributions to factors internal to the patient and by making attributions with fewer causal elements. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Function of Self-Esteem in Terror Management Theory and Sociometer Theory: Comment on Pyszczynski et al. (2004).

By applying different standards of evidence to sociometer theory than to terror management theory (TMT), T. Pyszczynski, J. Greenberg, S. Solomon, J. Arndt, and J. Schimel's (2004) review offers an imbalanced appraisal of the theories' merits. Many of Pyszczynski et al.'s (2004) criticisms of sociometer theory apply equally to TMT. and others are based on misconstruals of the theory or misunderstandings regarding how people respond when rejected. Furthermore, much of their review is only indirectly relevant to TMT's position on the function of self-esteem, and the review fails to acknowledge logical and empirical challenges to TMT. A more balanced review suggests that each theory trumps the other in certain respects, both have difficulty explaining all of the evidence regarding self-esteem, and the propositions of each theory can be roughly translated into the concepts of the other. For these reasons, declaring a theoretical winner at this time is premature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)