Mothers’ and Fathers’ Corporal Punishment and Their Responses to Children’s Negative Emotions

Alexandra Rodriguez-Schack ’24 Major: Health Policy and Management and Psychology Kathryn T. Ledley ’24 Major: Psychology Lillian L. Tuck ’24 Major: Biology and Psychology Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kelly A. Warmuth, Psychology Corporal punishment has often been viewed as a public health concern, as it is argued that it violates a child’s rights and may have negative consequences on a child’s long-term physical and mental health (Liu et al., 2022). Research has identified some parental characteristics—such as being poor or an unmarried mother—which increase the likelihood of spanking (Peddle & Wang, 2001); however, to further inform intervention efforts, additional research is necessary to determine which parents may be more likely to use corporal punishment. It was hypothesized that the more likely a parent is to respond to a child’s negative emotions in an unsupportive manner—namely through distress, punitive, or minimization reactions—the more they will utilize corporal punishment. Conversely, supportive parents—who respond with expressive encouragement, emotion-focused reactions, and problem-focused reactions—are hypothesized to be less likely to use corporal punishment