Longitudinal Cross-Lagged Associations Between Maternal Spanking and Child Aggression Are Not Moderated By Race, Although Levels of Spanking Differ Among Racial Groups (WITHDRAWN)

Background:

The role of race and ethnicity in the use of parental discipline has been controversial. One widely cited early study showed that spanking was associated with child externalizing behavior problems for White – but not Black – children (Deater-Deckard et al., 1996). The authors suggested that because spanking is more culturally normative among Black families, children are thus protected from its negative consequences. However, this claim has been contested by several studies that have found that spanking was linked to child behavior problems regardless of race, ethnicity or cultural normativeness of physical discipline (Gershoff et al., 2010; Gershoff, et al., 2012; Lansford et al., 2005). The current study addresses a question not addressed in prior research, by examining whether race moderated anyof the longitudinal cross-lagged associations between maternal use of spanking and child aggression in the first five years of life. In addition to examining change in child aggression associated with spanking, this study also examines whether race moderated the associations between child aggression and change in use of spanking.

 

Methods:

This study used data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS). Our analytic sample includes 3,163 Black, White, and Hispanic mothers assessed at four points: child’s birth, one, three, and five years of age. Mothers reported the frequency of spanking at ages one, three, and five; and child behavior at ages three and five. Path model and multi-group analyses were conducted in Mplus 7.4. Nested models were evaluated using χ² difference testing. We utilized multi-group analyses to determine whether relationships in the cross-lagged path model of reciprocal relationships between maternal spanking and child aggression differed by racial group following the incremental multi-group comparison approach for analyzing moderation (Bowen & Guo, 2012).

Results:

Results indicated that spanking varies across groups and over time, with Hispanic mothers using spanking less frequently and Black mothers using spanking more frequently than White mothers. However, longitudinal reciprocal relationships between maternal spanking and child aggression did not differ across racial or ethnic groups, Δ χ ²(df=6) = 3.768, p= 0.708. The associations of maternal spanking with subsequent changes in child aggression across time did not differ among Black, White, and Hispanic mothers; and the associations of child aggression with subsequent changes in mothers’ use of spanking also did not differ across racial groups.

Conclusions & Implications:

This study contributes to a growing body of research that challenges the notion that cultural normativeness may be a protective factor with regard to deleterious outcomes associated with mothers’ spanking. Black, White and Hispanic children were all negatively affected by parental spanking. Indeed, because Black children experience more spanking and physical punishment, research would suggest these children are at greater – not lesser – risk for associated deleterious outcomes. Thus, to promote optimal and healthy development of all children, there is need for culturally responsive parent education to help all parents identify alternatives to physical punishment of young children.