Effectiveness of mothers' disciplinary reasoning in response to toddler noncompliance

The current study examined the effectiveness of disciplinary reasoning in deescalating the intensity of noncompliance in discipline episodes with toddlers. Using Bell's control model, the effectiveness of reasoning was hypothesized to vary by characteristics unique to the toddler (e.g., age, temperament, gender), mother (i.e., "thinking" parent, responsiveness, willingness to use punishment, demographic factors), and situation (i.e., preceding type of noncompliance, length of discipline episode). The sample consisted of 102 mother-toddler pairs recruited through convenience sampling techniques. The mothers were primarily married (79%), Caucasian (80%), and well educated (60% with bachelor's degree or higher). Toddlers (62% male) ranged in age from 17.2 to 30.8 months (M = 23.8, SD = 3.9). Data were collected through a combination of questionnaires and interviews. Multilevel modeling was used to examine the effectiveness of reasoning in immediately de-escalating noncompliance intensity during discipline episodes. There was a significant main effect for reasoning (pi = -.33, p < .001), indicating that reasoning was likely to predict an immediate decrease in noncompliance intensity. Additionally, reasoning interacted with toddler surgency (y = - .17, p = .05) and mother involvement (y = .22, p = .02) and marginally interacted with the severity of the mother's last-resort discipline tactic (y = .15, p = .06). More specifically, toddler surgency predicted increased effectiveness of reasoning in reducing the intensity of noncompliance. However, mother involvement and severity of the last resort tactic predicted a decrease in the effectiveness of reasoning in reducing noncompliance intensity. Post-hoc analyses separated the effect of the two components of reasoning (i.e., explaining, offering alternatives). Offering alternatives almost entirely accounted for the effectiveness of reasoning. It predicted a reduction in the intensity of noncompliance regardless of the preceding type of noncompliance or any toddler or mother characteristics. In contrast, explaining interacted with the preceding type of noncompliance in predicting de-escalation of noncompliance intensity. Explaining was more effective in decreasing noncompliance intensity with skilled types of noncompliance (e.g., whining, negotiating) than unskilled types of noncompliance (e.g., tantrums, defiance). Implications for parents and practitioners are that (a) reasoning can be an effective tactic for de-escalating noncompliance with very young children, (b) explaining expectations is unlikely to have the desired immediate effect when toddlers are throwing tantrums or being defiant, and (c) offering alternatives de-escalates noncompliance in the short-term by offering mutually satisfactory solutions in disciplinary situations. The distinction between offering alternatives and explaining offers support for Bell's control theory demonstrating mothers and toddlers likely make fine tuned adjustments to each other's behaviors based on evaluations of one another and the current situation