Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 10, 1995 TAG: 9502100120
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Black parents interviewed by researchers also were more inclined to follow the adage ``spare the rod, spoil the child'' than white parents, regardless of where they lived and how educated they were.
Seventy percent of the parents reported using physical punishment at least once. But so-called ``low authority'' was the most popular type of discipline: some mothers distracted, bribed, pleaded or ignored their children more than 90 percent of the time.
The University of Virginia study investigated regional, ethnic and individual differences in how working parents discipline young children. Researchers interviewed 720 families with children ages 1 to 5 enrolled in 120 child-care centers in Massachusetts, Georgia and Virginia.
They described typical child misbehavior - refusing to get dressed; throwing a fit in a grocery store; refusing to stay in bed; engaging in dangerous behavior - and asked parents how they would react.
They were asked to choose among several reactions, including physical punishment, such as spanking, hitting or shaking; physical restraint, such as holding the child in a chair; reasoning, such as telling the child ``you need to get dressed because you won't want to spend the day in your pajamas''; coercive verbal control, such as yelling or threatening; behavior modification, such as isolation and withdrawal of privileges; and low use of authority.
Then they were asked what they would do if the child repeated the behavior a second and third time.
``The most surprising finding is that parents told us they used the same amount of physical punishment for all ages of young children,'' Sandra Carr, UVa psychology professor, said Thursday. ``Parents slapped the hands and bottoms of 12-month-olds as often as 3-year-olds.''
The study, supported by the National Institutes of Health, also found:
Children who were described as being difficult to manage by parents and teachers received more physical forms of discipline and less reasoning.
Discipline practices by fathers do not differ significantly from mothers in the same region.
Parents reported using a surprising range of discipline strategies, from a mother and father who reported using physical punishment in 87 percent of their responses to parents who reported using no corporal punishment.
The day-care centers were located in the Boston metropolitan area, the Atlanta metro area and in Charlottesville, Richmond, Roanoke and Lynchburg.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***