Harsh discipline in adolescence: Prevalence, emotional correlates, and intergenerational roots in an Asian cohort

The current study examined 13-year-old adolescents' self-reports regarding the prevalence, frequency, and emotional experiences of harsh discipline (psychological aggression, corporal punishment, severe assault) from both mothers and fathers. We further investigated how mothers' childhood experiences of physical discipline were associated with their current disciplinary practices through parental attitudes and emotional dysregulation in the context of physical punishment. Embedded in a Singapore-based birth cohort study, 542 mother-adolescent dyads were surveyed. Adolescents' reports of harsh discipline from mothers and fathers were obtained using the Parent-Child Conflict-Tactics Scale, with prevalence defined as exposure to at least one form of harsh discipline at any frequency. The prevalence of adolescents experiencing at least one form of harsh discipline from either parent was 87.5% at age 13 and 92.9% over their lifetime. Physical forms of harsh discipline, including corporal punishment and severe assault, were more frequently experienced by boys than girls. Adolescents reported adverse emotional experiences of physical discipline, including feelings of anger and hurt. Focusing on maternal behaviours, path analyses revealed that mothers' attitudes toward physical discipline consistently explained the association from mothers' past exposure to physical discipline and their current use of both physical and non-physical harsh disciplinary practices (β = 0.028-0.042). Our findings underscore the adverse experiences of adolescents' exposure to harsh discipline, and identify parental attitudes as a key modifiable factor that perpetuates the intergenerational continuity of physical discipline. This highlights the need to address parents' maladaptive beliefs about the acceptability and effectiveness of physical disciplinary methods.