The Need for Positive Discipline Strategies Among Neglecting Parents

Background:  Child neglect is the most commonly reported type of child maltreatment; yet the specific impact of neglect on child welfare-involved children’s (CWIC) outcomes, particularly children’s mental health, is poorly understood.  A better understanding of the relationship between the parenting behaviors of parents reported for neglect and children’s mental health will improve the targeting of services to this population to reduce or avoid problems.  This study uses a representative sample of children who experienced neglect to analyze the relationship between types of discipline and child behavior problems.

Methods:  Data are from the Second Cohort of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, a representative sample of children investigated for maltreatment in 42 states.  Children 18 months to 17 years who remained in their homes and were identified by the case manager as experiencing neglect were included (n=882).  The sample was 53% male, 20% African American, 42% Caucasian, 32% Hispanic and 6% of children of other race/ethnicities.  The outcome variables included the total, internalizing and externalizing scores on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).  The independent variables of interest were the summed sub-scale from the caretaker report on the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scales as assessed over the last 12 months: total physical assault, non-violent discipline and psychological aggression.  Higher scores indicated more of the parenting behavior.  Child race/ethnicity, age and gender were included in all models.

Results: The CBCL total score ((F(8,67)=25.1, (p<.001), R²=.22) and internalizing score ((F(8,67)=16.41, (p<.001), R²=.14) were significantly associated with child age, psychological aggression and non-violent discipline The externalizing score ((F(8,67)=22.6, (p<.001), R²=.24) was associated with child age, physical assault, psychological aggression and non-violent discipline.

Discussion: These results suggest that to improve child outcomes, families reported for neglect need help developing positive parenting skills and that alternative discipline, (e.g., teaching parents to use timeout) is necessary, but insufficient by itself.  It appears that parents use a combination of both positive and negative parenting behaviors, and that psychological aggression, such as threats, is in response to parents’ frustration at children’s behavior and lack of cooperation. Non-violent discipline may be a marker of parents’ intolerance for normal child behaviors in that parents who are constantly correcting or punishing their children may inadvertently be creating behavior problems.  Parents need positive strategies to engender cooperation rather than relying on punishment to improve behavior.  Offering positive parenting training for neglecting parents could result in improvements in child mental health.