The changing landscape of discipline in Egypt: a descriptive and predictive study across two generations

Parent-child discipline is often embedded within cultural and social narratives that shape how it is perceived and practiced in different cultures. This study therefore takes an emic approach to understanding discipline in Egypt, with a particular focus on harsh discipline. Specifically, it (1) examines intergenerational continuity and change across discipline domains, (2) explores child, family, and cultural correlates of current discipline practices, and (3) identifies predictors of harsh discipline practices. The sample consisted of 490 Egyptian parents, each of whom had a child between the ages of 2 and 12.5 years.

Emically-developed scales assessing physical, verbal, psychological, deprivation-based, and positive discipline were administered via an online questionnaire. Harsh discipline was operationalized as the composite of the physical, verbal, and psychological discipline domains.

Findings supported the intergenerational continuity in discipline practices, and identified generational shifts across domains, including lower levels of harsh disciplinary strategies in the second generation. Regression analyses further showed that perceived cultural norms of discipline, recollection of harsh discipline from one's parents, number of children in a household, and family income significantly predicted harsh discipline.

The findings of this study therefore highlight culturally embedded risk factors for harsh discipline in Egypt. Implications for social, legal, and cultural considerations are further discussed.