Harsh Parenting in Military Versus Civilian Families: Does Military Culture Moderate the Influence of Socioeconomic Status and Race?

Harsh parenting techniques such as yelling and spanking are commonly used in the United States to discipline children, despite the evidence that harsh parenting has a negative sequalae for children that can persistent into adulthood. Socioeconomic status (SES) and race/ethnicity have been identified as two key determinants of harsh parenting. The stressors associated with military service and parenting within military culture place families at increased risk for harsh parenting and child maltreatment. Having a better understanding of how sociodemographic factors influence parenting behaviors within the military culture may help to develop psychoeducational and parenting programs as well as therapeutic interventions to decrease rates of harsh parenting, and ultimately reduce the rates of child abuse and neglect in this population. Therefore, the current study explored the relationships between SES and harsh parenting, race, and harsh parenting in a sample of military and civilian parents. The influence of military culture, parenting beliefs, marital conflict, psychological distress, and parenting stress on harsh parenting practices was also investigated. Data were examined from 501 parents and no significant differences were found between military and civilian parents. However, hypotheses were partially supported as exploratory analyses found significant mediating effects of marital conflict and parenting stress on the relationship between psychological distress and harsh parenting. Higher levels of psychological distress were associated with higher levels of martial conflict and parenting stress which were related to reporting higher rates of harsh parenting. Overall, the findings provide support for the process model of parenting and spillover theories