Family aggressiveness factors in the prediction of corporal punishment: Reciprocal effects and the impact of observer perspective

Family aggressiveness factors in predicting corporal punishment were examined among 1,536 parents of 983 college students. The proposed reciprocal effects model of corporal punishment suggested that parents and children take an active role in precipitating child maltreatment, and that the use of physical force to resolve conflict may be a function of an aggressive microsystem in which all members are active participants. I hypothesized that when examined concurrently, parent and child factors would predict parental use of corporal punishment, and that when parent history of received corporal punishment was taken into consideration, child aggressiveness would still be a significant predictor. Results were consistent with the reciprocal effects model, but only when the criterion variable of corporal punishment was defined from multiple perspectives.