CHILD-PARENT RELATIONSHIP:.....MORE NEWS FOR A HAPPY RELATIONSHIP FROM CANADA.......
Posted by Vishva News Reporter on May 4, 2007

To A Deserving MomStock Photography: Family Strolling Beach At Sunset

Spare the rod and you won't spoil the child, study finds:
Parents who avoid spanking and screaming at their children
said to raise less aggressive children

By MARGARET PHILP:
Canadian Globe & Mail: Tuesday, February 22, 2005 - Page A3



Brenda Rogers wishes she had been the calm, even-tempered mother to her older children that she has become with her two younger daughters. When her eldest children were preschoolers years ago -- they are now in their early twenties -- she was a lonely, isolated young mother whose fashion of discipline would be to lose her temper in a full-throttle yell.

Now the busy mother of a rambunctious six-year-old and plump-cheeked 22-month-old, both girls, Ms. Rogers says her parenting style has become gentler, in keeping with an age when corporal punishment is out of fashion, bookstore shelves are stocked with parenting manuals and schools run parenting centres out of classrooms every day. "I did a lot of yelling with my older children," she said, standing in the hallway outside the parenting centre at Rose Park Public School in Toronto, where her small daughters were playing. "I realize now that it wasn't working."

While she is in tune with the times, Ms. Rogers also illustrates the findings of new Statistics Canada research published yesterday showing that parents sparing the rod are raising children who are less aggressive and less anxious and behave more considerately of others.

More notable, the study found that when strict disciplinarians switch to a more laid-back parenting style, their children become less prone to bullying, anxiety and anti-social behaviour -- in equal measure to peers whose parents have always avoided spanking and screaming as forms of discipline.

"When parenting changed, the child's behaviour changed as well," said Statscan senior research analyst Eleanor Thomas.

"That's a positive message for parents. When we look at cognitive development, the thought is that it's hard to change intellectual abilities and language skills beyond three or four years of age, but this is showing that social behaviour and emotional changes are more linked to parent practices.

"When the parents became less punitive over eight years, the children were significantly less aggressive."

The opposite was also true: if easygoing parents became more coercive in their discipline tactics, their children scored as more aggressive, anxious, and behaving less thoughtfully toward others as they approached their teenage years.
 

The findings are the latest from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, a massive study that has tracked thousands of Canadian children since 1994 and will follow their development until they are in their twenties.


Please continue reading this news item on the next page.....

PVAF'S KNOWLEDGE SHARING 
ABOUT veDik LIFESTYLE PARENTING CONTINUES FOR MAKING
YOUR EVERY TOMORROW MORE HAPPIER THAN TODAY
FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN

Yesterday, PVAF published the new item about the international effort being made by may communities with this universal prime directive from Finland:

  • A CHILD SHALL BE BROUGHT UP IN A SPIRIT OF UNDERSTANDING, SECURITY AND LOVE.
     

  • A CHILD SHALL NOT BE SUBDUED, CORPORALLY PUNISHED, OR OTHERWISE HUMILIATED.
     

  • A CHILD'S GROWTH TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE, RESPONSIBILITY AND ADULTHOOD SHALL BE ENCOURAGED, SUPPORTED AND ASSISTED.

PVAF also provided the immemorial knowledge of child-parent relationship from veDik texts......And yesterday at PVAF we had prayed for more knowledge in future to share with you....And that prayer has already been answered by today's information sharing from the Canadian 10-year study of WHAT IS EFFECTIVE PARENTING.... 

On the next page along with the Canadian Globe and Mail news item PVAF has also published the actual report from Canada Statistics web site of the Canadian study titled "National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth: Home environment, income and child behaviour: changes in punitive parenting practices1994/95 to 2002/03" .....

We pray this will enlighten YOU to buy into the following very important study findings:

  • social behaviour and emotional changes are more linked to parenting practices.
     

  • When parenting changes, the child's behaviour changed as well.
     

  • If punitive parenting changed, the kids changed.
     

  • A parent says:

    • "If they do something I don't like, I ask them, 'How would you like it if someone did that to you?' I want them to grow up to care and share and love and all those good things in the world.
       

    • I don't believe in spanking my children. It hurts. And verbally too -- I don't want to hurt them verbally. I try to treat them with respect,

PVAF PRAYS:

"YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN
WILL GROW TOGETHER IN THIS LIFE-JOURNEY
 FOR A EVER-GREEN veDik RELATIONSHIP.....
SO THAT YOURS AND YOUR CHILDREN'S
NEXT LIFE-JOURNEYS WILL FURTHER EVOLVE........."

 

Please click on the next line to continue reading the Canadian Globe and Mail news item and also the Canada Statscan study report on which this news item is based on.....FOR A EVER GROWING HAPPY RELATIONSHIP BASED ON THE TRUTH OF LIFE BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR CHILD.....



 

Canadian Globe & Mail News Item continued.....after which you can read the Canadian Statscan study report.....

In the beginning, the parents were asked to report on their discipline styles based on how frequently they resorted to spanking and yelling at their children and whether they reasoned with them and talked about alternative behaviours. In the most recent cycle, the children, then between the ages of 10 and 13, were asked to report on their parents' modes of discipline.

"I don't believe in spanking my children. It hurts. And verbally too -- I don't want to hurt them verbally. I try to treat them with respect," said Ms. Rogers, who is a regular at the school parenting centre, where child aggression and misbehaviour are frequent topics.


"If they do something I don't like, I ask them, 'How would you like it if someone did that to you?' I want them to grow up to care and share and love and all those good things in the world."

The Statscan findings build a compelling case for a public investment in parenting programs not unlike prenatal classes for expectant parents, said Joan Durrant, associate professor of family social sciences at the University of Manitoba and a leading expert on corporal punishment.

While Canadian parents and educators wring their hands about bullying in schools, she argues, studies showing the strong link between coercive parenting styles and aggressive children are being largely ignored.

"If people had access to parent education like prenatal education, we could make a lot of change," she said. "Just because a parent might have started out being more harsh doesn't mean the child is destined to have a negative outcome. If parents can change their behaviour, then the child's behaviour can reflect that. We could make really substantial changes in the aggression and anxiety in our kids."

Spanking is legal in Canada, although it is being outlawed in a growing number of countries. After a challenge a few years ago to the Criminal Code provision that allows corporal punishment, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that children between the ages of two and 13 could be disciplined with the use of reasonable force. Nonetheless, the Senate has recently started debating a motion to ban corporal punishment.

When it comes to low-income, the Statscan study found that while poor children were slightly more likely to be bullies than their middle-class peers -- there were no differences in anxiety levels or anti-social behaviour -- those children being raised in low-income homes by nurturing parents who did not spank or shout were no more aggressive than other children.

And the study found that while poor families were more prone to dysfunction and depression, there was no link between low-income parents and punitive parenting.
"The main message here is it doesn't matter about income," said Statscan's Ms. Thomas.

"If punitive parenting changed, the kids changed."

Now continue reading the study report..........

 

 From: Canada Stastics: February 21, 2004: Daily News web site:

1994/95 to 2002/03: National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth: Home environment, income and child behaviour: changes in punitive parenting practices

Analysis of long-term data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth found that changes in punitive parenting practices in the home were linked with changes in child behaviour eight years later.

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Children showed higher levels of aggressive behaviour when their parents were more punitive. They also showed higher levels of anxiety and lower levels of pro-social behaviour, the latter defined as actions that benefit another person with no reward for oneself.


 

Note to readers

The National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) is a long-term study by Social Development Canada and Statistics Canada, which follows the development of children from birth to early adulthood. The survey began in 1994/95 with a sample of children under the age of 12. The survey is designed to collect information about factors influencing the social, emotional and behavioural development of children, and to monitor the impact of these factors on their development over time.

This report releases preliminary findings from Cycle 5, collected eight years later, in 2002/03, when the children were aged from 8 to 19. Specifically, it reports on 4,129 children aged 2 to 5 during the first data collection period in 1994/95, who were 10 to 13 during the fifth collection phase in 2002/03. Information was gathered from the parents when the children were aged 2 to 5 and from both parents and the children when they were 10 to 13. This sample represents about 1.5 million children aged 2 to 5 living in Canada in 1994/95

An analysis of partial non-response, including response rates for key variables, is available on request.

Definitions

Income status: Measured as the ratio of household income to the relevant low-income cut-off level (LICO) for each family. Low-income families are those who devote a larger share of income to the necessities of food, shelter and clothing than the average equivalent family. Households were divided into a low-income group, in which the household fell below the LICO, and a higher-income group, in which the household income fell at or above the LICO.

Child aggressive behaviour: To measure aggressive behaviour in children, the NLSCY asked how often a child behaved or reacted in aggressive ways, such as whether they got into many fights, or how often they bullied or were mean to others.

Punitive parenting style: Punitive parenting for children aged 2 to 5 was measured by asking parents how often they used physical punishment, or yelled at the child and, on the other hand, how often they calmly discussed the problem or described more acceptable behaviour to the child. Children aged 10 to 13 were asked how often parents yelled at them, hit them or threatened to do so.


 

The link between punitive parenting practices and child behaviour was found when children were aged 2 to 5 in 1994/95 and eight years later in 2002/03, when they were aged 10 to 13.

Change in punitive parenting linked to change in aggressive behaviour

Children whose parents' practices changed from punitive to non-punitive eight years later scored just as low in aggressive behaviour as youngsters whose parenting environment was not punitive at either of those ages. This occurred regardless of the children's level of aggressive behaviour when they were younger.

Similarly, children whose parenting environment changed from non-punitive to punitive had aggressive behaviour scores that were just as high as those whose parenting environment was punitive at both ages.

These findings are consistent with an earlier NLSCY study released in October 2004. It found that changes in punitive parenting practices in the home between the time that children were aged two to three and eight to nine were linked with changes in aggressive behaviour. The present analysis found the same result two years later for these children, and extended the findings to an older group of children.

Change in punitive parenting linked to change in child anxiety, pro-social behaviour

In addition to a child's aggressive behaviour, changes in punitive parenting practices were linked with changes in child anxiety and pro-social behaviour.

Children whose parenting environment changed from punitive to non-punitive between the time they were aged 2 to 5 and 10 to 13 scored just as low in anxiety at the older ages as those whose parenting environment was not punitive at either time.

On the other hand, children whose parenting environment changed from non-punitive to punitive had anxiety scores that were just as high at age 10 to 13 as those whose parenting environment was punitive at both ages.

The same trends were observed for children's pro-social behaviour. When parenting practices became less punitive, children scored just as high in pro-social behaviour at the age of 10 to 13 as those whose parenting environment was non-punitive at both ages.

Those whose parenting environment became more punitive scored just as low in pro-social behaviour at age 10 to 13 as those living in punitive environments at both ages.

Household income had little bearing on any of these trends.

It should be noted that these findings do not prove that punitive parenting practices caused aggressive behaviour, anxiety, or limited pro-social behaviour in the children. However, they are consistent with other research that suggests a causal role.

Low income associated with aggressive behaviour but not with other behaviour outcomes

Data showed that children who were living in low-income households between the ages of 2 to 5 in 1994/95 scored the same in anxiety and pro-social behaviour eight years later, when they were 10 to 13, as children whose 1994/95 household income was higher.

In contrast, data showed a tendency for children who were in low-income households in 1994/95 to score higher in aggressive behaviour eight years later than children whose 1994/95 household income was higher.

This was true even for children who were low income in 1994/95 but whose income status had improved by 2002/03.

Aggressive behaviour in low-income children associated with home environment

Although the findings indicate that low-income children have a slightly higher probability of aggressive behaviour than other children eight years later, many of them are resilient to this situation and have outcomes that compare with children from other income groups.

Resilient children in this report were defined as those who lived in low-income households in 1994/95 at age 2 to 5, but who scored low in aggressive behaviour in 2002/03 at age 10 to 13.

When these children were compared with those who scored high in aggressive behaviour, important differences were found in their current home environments.

The resilient children were exposed to significantly lower levels of punitive parenting practices than the less resilient children. Furthermore, the resilient children experienced parenting practices that were significantly more nurturing, and their parents monitored their activities more closely.

Low income connected to family dysfunction and parent depression

The NLSCY examined whether children living in low-income households were exposed to higher levels of stressful environmental factors than higher-income children. Factors that have been associated with child behaviour include family dysfunction, maternal depression and punitive parenting practices.

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To measure family dysfunction, parents were asked about problems with family functioning, including communication, roles, affective involvement and responsiveness, behaviour control, and problem-solving within the family. Dysfunctional families were those where frequent problems were reported.

NLSCY data show that both family dysfunction and maternal depression were linked with income, but punitive parenting practices were not.

At the age of 2 to 5, low-income children experienced higher levels of family dysfunction than children in households with higher incomes. Eight years later, the link between low income and family dysfunction persisted for children aged 10 to 11, but was no longer significant for those 12 to 13.

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Similarly, the survey showed an association between depressive symptoms reported by the parent, usually the mother, and income levels.

Parents of children in low-income households scored higher on a measure of depression than did parents of children in higher income households. The link between low income and maternal depression was found at both stages: when the children were aged 2 to 5 and eight years later when they were 10 to 13.

In contrast, the survey found no differences between children in the two income groups in the level of punitive parenting practices reported, at either stage. In other words, children living in low-income households were not subjected to higher levels of punitive parenting practices than children who did not live in low-income homes.

Financial circumstances improved for most low-income children over time

Financial circumstances improved for most children living in low-income households during the eight-year period.

Financial circumstances in 1994/95 and 2002/03 
  Income category in 2002/03
  1994/95 Low income Higher income
  %
Children living in a low-income family in 1994/95 26 43 57
Children living in a higher-income family in 1994/95 74 9 91

 

In 1994/95, just over one-quarter (26%) of children aged 2 to 5 were in households below Statistics Canada's low-income cut-off. However, by 2002/03, when they were 10 to 13, more than one-half (57%) of these children were no longer in low income.

That means that 43% of the children who were in low income in 1994/95 were still there in 2002/03. In contrast, only 9% of the children outside low income in 1994/95 had slipped below the cut-off eight years later.

Other home environment factors associated with behaviour

Dysfunction in the family was associated with anxiety in young children aged 2 to 5. Also at these ages, depression experienced by the parent was associated with higher levels of aggressive behaviour and anxiety in the children.

Eight years later, when the children were 10 to 13, the picture was somewhat different. Children living in families where dysfunction scores were high did not differ from other children in aggressive behaviour, anxiety or pro-social behaviour.

Similarly, children aged 10 to 13 in homes where the parent had high depression scores did not differ from other children in any of these behaviours.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 4450.

For more information about the data collected during the first five cycles of the NLSCY or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Client Services (1-800-461-9050; 613-951-3321; ssd@statcan.ca), Special Surveys Division.


 

 

 

 

 

 



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