A brief intervention affects parents' attitudes toward using less physical punishment

Area of Science:

• Child Development
• Public Health
• Pediatrics

Background:

• Physical punishment is a common child discipline method.
• Attitudes toward spanking correlate with actual physical punishment use.
• Effective, scalable interventions are needed to reduce physical punishment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the short-term impact of a brief multimedia intervention on caregivers' attitudes toward spanking.
• To assess the feasibility of integrating such an intervention into primary care settings.
• To explore a population-based approach for violence prevention.

Main Methods:

• Randomized controlled trial with English and Spanish-speaking caregivers of 6-24 month olds.
• Intervention group viewed a multimedia program on child discipline; control group received routine care.
• Attitudes Toward Spanking (ATS) scale measured pre- and post-intervention.

Main Results:

• Intervention group showed significantly lower ATS scores (median=24.0) than the control group (median=30; p=0.043).
• Caregivers in the control group were twice as likely to report intending to spank compared to the intervention group (16.9% vs. 7.0%; p=0.015).
• High participation rate (98%) indicates feasibility.

Conclusions:

• A brief, multimedia intervention delivered during primary care visits can positively influence parental attitudes against physical punishment.
• This approach demonstrates potential for a scalable, population-based strategy to reduce physical discipline.
• Findings support integrating violence prevention strategies into routine pediatric care.