Longitudinal Links Between Fathers’ and Mothers’ Harsh Verbal Discipline and Adolescents’ Conduct Problems and Depressive Symptoms
Ming-Te Wang, Sarah Kenny, Child Development, Volume 85, Issue 3, May/June 2014, Pages 908–923
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/enhanced/doi/10.1111/cdev.12143/?elq_mid=4568&elq_cid=15433
“Our findings indicate that parental warmth did not buffer against the effects of harsh verbal discipline on adolescent problem behavior. Harsh verbal discipline was associated with increased conduct problems and depressive symptoms regardless of whether parenting style was characterized by low, moderate, or high levels of maternal and paternal warmth. Warmth constitutes one of the components of the authoritative parenting style, and enhances academic and psychosocial development (Gray & Steinberg, 1999). It is plausible that parents use harsh discipline in conjunction with demonstrations of affection and concern. There exists some degree of conventional wisdom promoting the notion that harsh discipline is not harmful to children or, at least, that the detrimental effects of harsh discipline may be offset when used in the context of a warm and loving parent–child relationship. Indeed, some studies on physical discipline tend to support this notion (e.g., Deater-Deckard et al., 2006; McLoyd & Smith, 2004; Simons, Johnson, & Conger, 1994). However, the results of our study cast doubt on the effectiveness of harsh verbal discipline as a disciplinary approach, even in the context of positive parenting styles. Even in a warm and loving parent–child relationship, harsh verbal discipline reinforces the child’s misbehaviors and depressive symptoms, which are often the very behaviors that parents aim to ameliorate. While parental warmth creates trust and reciprocity between parent and child (Amato, 1990), harsh verbal discipline may compromise those bonds and thus contribute to coercive processes that reinforce the child’s use of problem behaviors. As previously suggested, adolescents exposed to harsh verbal discipline may suffer from a lack of confidence (Donovan & Brassard, 2011) and it may be particularly difficult to moderate the effects that parental insults or threats have on the adolescent’s developing sense of self. Research on child abuse has found verbal abuse to have a negative effect on children’s perceptions of themselves and of the world around them, also making them more angry and pessimistic about the future (Ney et al., 1986). Furthermore, intentionally demeaning and scornful comments by parents may be particularly psychologically intrusive and signal rejection (Evans et al., 2012). Taken together, our findings suggest that parental warmth is not sufficient to buffer against the detrimental effects of parental cursing, yelling, or insults, which appear to be particularly psychologically damaging for the developing adolescent.”