Social Work

Using multilevel modeling on a sample of 2472 families in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, this study explored the simultaneous role of neighborhood collective efficacy and maternal spanking on externalizing and internalizing problems in early childhood. Mediation analyses tested whether maternal spanking mediates the effect of neighborhood collective efficacy on behavior problems. Results indicated the direct influences of neighborhood collective efficacy and maternal spanking on externalizing and internalizing behavior problems, even after controlling for earlier behavior problem scores and a comprehensive set of child, family, and neighborhood level covariates. The indirect associations between neighborhood collective efficacy and behavior problems through maternal spanking were not significant, after considering the covariates. These findings demonstrate the importance of a multilevel framework that concurrently promotes positive neighborhood and parenting processes for desirable child outcomes.

Research that simultaneously examines the relationship of multiple types of family and community violence with adolescent outcomes is limited in the previous research literature, particularly in Latin America. This study examines the relationship of adolescent exposure to family and community violence—parental use of corporal punishment, violence in the community , intimate partner physical aggression—with eight subscales of the Youth Self Report among a Chilean sample of 593 adolescent–mother pairs. Results from multilevel models indicated a positive association between adolescent exposure to violence in the family and community, and a wide range of behavior problem outcomes, in particular, aggression. With growing evidence concerning the detrimental effect of violence on adolescent well-being, these findings emphasize the need for a more comprehensive understanding of the various kinds of violence adolescents are exposed to within the family and community and the concomitant need to reduce multiple forms of violence. The literature continues to highlight the per-vasiveness of violence against children and adolescents in the family and community

This study examined the association between school bonds and the onset of substance use among adolescents in South Korea. Based on Hirschi's social control theory, this study tested the roles of teacher attachment, educational aspiration, extracurricular activities, and rule internalization-four elements of social bonds within the school setting-in delayed initiation of alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking. Discrete-time logistic regression was used to analyze five waves of the Korea Youth Panel Survey (N = 3449 at baseline), a nationally representative sample of Korean youth. Stronger teacher attachment, higher educational aspiration, and higher rule internalization were correlated with delayed onset of alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking. On the other hand, participation in school extracurricular activities was positively associated with the onset of alcohol drinking, but not statistically significantly linked with the onset of cigarette smoking. These findings suggest th...

Parent-youth agreement on parental behaviors can characterize effective parenting. Although discordance in families may be developmentally salient and harmful to youth outcomes, predictors of discordance have been understudied, and existing research in this field has been mostly limited to North American samples. This paper addressed this literature gap by using data from a community-based study of Chilean adolescents. Analysis was based on 1,068 adolescents in Santiago, Chile. The dependent variable was discordance which was measured by the difference between parent and youth's assessment of parental monitoring. Major independent variables for this study were selected based on previous research findings that underscore youth's developmental factors, positive parental and familial factors and demographic factors. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the prevalence and associations between youth, parental and familial measures with parent-youth disc...

Despite a great deal of evidence that corporal punishment is harmful, corporal punishment is still very prevalent worldwide. We examine predictors of different types of corporal punishment among Ukrainian mothers in 12 communities across Ukraine. Findings suggest that maternal spirituality, maternal coping styles, family communication, and some demographic characteristics are predictive of mothers' use of corporal punishment.

Background and Objective: Sixty countries worldwide have banned the use of physical punishment, yet little is known about the association of physical and nonphysical forms of child discipline with child development in a global context. The objective of this study is to examine whether physical punishment and nonphysical discipline are associated with child socioemotional functioning in a global sample of families from 62 countries and whether country-level normativeness of physical punishment and nonphysical discipline moderated those associations. Methods: Data for this study are from 215,885 families in the fourth and fifth rounds of the United Nations Children’s Fund Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys. Bayesian multilevel logistic models were used to analyze the associations of physical punishment and nonphysical discipline (i.e., taking away privileges and verbal reasoning) with three different outcomes representing children’s socioemotional functioning: getting along well with ...

Objectives-Corporal punishment is still widely practiced around the globe, despite the large body of child development research that substantiates its short-and long-term consequences. Within this context, this paper examined the relationship between parental use of corporal punishment and youth externalizing behavior with a Chilean sample to add to the growing empirical evidence concerning the potential relationship between increased corporal punishment and undesirable youth outcomes across cultures. Methods-Analysis was based on 919 adolescents in Santiago, Chile. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the extent to which parents' use of corporal punishment and positive family measures were associated with youth externalizing behavior. Furthermore, the associations between self-reported externalizing behavior and infrequent, as well as frequent, use of corporal punishment were investigated to contribute to understanding how varying levels of parental use of corporal punishment were differently related to youth outcomes. Results-Both mother's and father's use of corporal punishment were associated with greater youth externalizing behavior. Additionally, increases in positive parenting practices, such as parental warmth and family involvement, were met with decreases in youth externalizing behavior when controlling for youth demographics, family socioeconomic status, and parents' use of corporal punishment. Finally, both infrequent and frequent use of corporal punishment were positively associated with higher youth problem behaviors, though frequent corporal punishment had a stronger relationship with externalizing behavior than did infrequent corporal punishment. Conclusions-Parental use of corporal punishment, even on an occasional basis, is associated with greater externalizing behavior for youth while a warm and involving family environment may protect youth from serious problem behaviors. Therefore, findings of this study add to the growing evidence concerning the negative consequences of corporal punishment for youth outcomes.

Research that simultaneously examines the relationship of multiple types of family and community violence with youth outcomes is limited in the previous research literature, particularly in Latin America. This study examined the relationship of youth exposure to family and community violence-parental use of corporal punishment, violence in the community, intimate partner physical aggression-with eight subscales of the Youth Self Report among a Chilean sample of 593 youth-mother pairs. Results from multilevel models indicated a positive association between youth exposure to violence in the family and community, and a wide range of behavior problem outcomes, in particular, aggression. With growing evidence concerning the detrimental effect of violence on youth's well-being, these findings highlight the need for a more comprehensive understanding of the various kinds of violence youth are exposed to within the family and community and the concomitant need to reduce multiple forms o...

A body of existing research addresses the influences of neighborhood disadvantage and negative parenting practices on child outcomes. A notable gap in extant literature, however, is the scarcity of research that encompasses the simultaneous effects of neighborhood and parenting processes on early childhood outcomes. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), a longitudinal birth cohort study of nearly 5,000 children, this dissertation explores the effects of neighborhood disorganization (i.e., lack of collective efficacy) and maternal corporal punishment on early externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. Results from cross-sectional multilevel models demonstrate that both neighborhood disorganization and maternal corporal punishment are significant risk factors to behavior problems in early childhood. The indirect neighborhood effect on behavior problems through corporal punishment was not significant, suggesting that empirically, neighborhood collective efficacy and corporal punishment are distinct predictors of early behavior problems. Racial and ethnic differences in the direct effects of neighborhood and parenting processes on behavior problems were only apparent between Hispanic and white children such that the association between collective efficacy and internalizing problem were stronger among Hispanic children than white children. Longitudinal multilevel models indicate the prominence of neighborhood effects starting at early ages-child age was a significant moderator in the collective efficacy and internalizing behavior linkage. The effect of maternal corporal punishment on behavior problems in this sample were not dependent on child age, suggesting the harmful influence of maternal corporal punishment is consistent throughout early childhood. The findings of this study provide substantive implications to social work practice by reinforcing the importance of community-based multilevel prevention and intervention programs that promote both neighborhood collective efficacy and alternatives to parental corporal punishment to prevent early behavior problems.

Gender inequality perpetuates women’s economic insecurity and a culture of violence. Parental distress caused by economic pressure may increase violence against children. High levels of gender inequality and interpersonal violence may contribute to higher levels of physical abuse. Using an ecological perspective, this study examines the association of country-level gender inequality and household-level parental physical abuse, and the moderating role of child gender in this association in low- and middle-income countries. We used data on over 420,000 households from the UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys and country-level indicators from the United Nations Development Program Human Development data. We employed multilevel logistic regression to examine the association between gender inequality with the log-odds of physical abuse after accounting for country- and individual-level covariates. In order to more fully explore our results, we calculated predicted probabilities of a...

Background: Caregivers use a variety of disciplinary methods to respond to undesired child behavior. Many caregivers use nonaggressive forms of discipline, such as verbal reasoning and redirection. Some caregivers use aggressive forms of discipline, such as spanking and yelling. However, most caregivers use a combination of aggressive and nonaggressive discipline. To date, a disproportionately small number of caregiver discipline studies are conducted in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), and few studies in low-resource contexts examine aggressive and nonaggressive behaviors simultaneously. Objective: This study aims to elucidate caregiver patterns of 11 disciplinary behaviors used in LMICs, and examine how these patterns relate to child outcomes and household characteristics. Participants and setting: Data came from the fourth and fifth rounds of UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) distributed between 2009 and 2017 (N = 218,824 respondents across 63 countries). Focal children were 3-4 years old. Methods: Patterns of disciplinary behaviors were estimated using a multilevel latent class analysis (LCA). Multinomial regression analyses examined associations of disciplinary patterns with caregiver-reported child outcomes and household characteristics. Results: The LCA suggested caregiver discipline fell into three overall patterns: high behavioral control, moderate behavior control, and lower behavioral control. The lower behavioral control class was associated with the most advantageous child outcomes and household socio-demographic characteristics, whereas the high behavioral control class was associated with the most disadvantageous child outcomes and household characteristics. Conclusions: Efforts should be employed to reduce aggressive behaviors and promote positive parenting among caregivers in LMICs.

Background: Nearly one third of children under five in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) experience spanking. Studies from North America suggest that spanking is associated with heightened risk of physical abuse. However, the link between spanking and physical abuse in the international context remains understudied. Objective: To examine the association between caregivers' spanking and physical abuse of young children in LMICs, and to estimate the extent to which physical abuse might be reduced if spanking were eliminated. Participants: We used nationally representative data from 156,166 1-to 4-year-old children in 56 LMICs from the fourth and fifth rounds of UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys. Methods: A nationally weighted multilevel logistic regression model examined the association between spanking and physical abuse. We calculated predicted probabilities of physical abuse, which we present using natural frequencies. Results: Spanking was associated with higher odds of physical abuse (OR = 5.74, p < .001). The predicted probability of physical abuse decreased by 14% comparing children who were spanked (22%) and who were not spanked (8%). When our estimates were translated to a hypothetical sample of 100 children using a natural frequency approach, 32 children were spanked; of those, seven experienced physical abuse. The elimination of spanking would result in four fewer children who were exposed to physical abuse. In relation to the population of abused children, estimates suggest that physical abuse could reduce by up to 33% if spanking were eliminated. Conclusions: Results support the UN Sustainable Development Goals Target 16.2 that calls for eliminating all forms of violence against children. Child welfare advocates should discourage caregivers from using spanking, in order to prevent physical abuse.