Open AccessSpare the rod and save the child: Assessing the impact of parenting on child behaviour and mental health
Author(s) -
Catherine L. Ward,
Chandré Gould,
Jane Kelly,
Katya Mauff
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
sa crime quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2413-3108
pISSN - 1991-3877
DOI - 10.17159/2413-3108/2015/v0i51a768
Subject(s) - mental health , corporal punishment , psychology , anxiety , aggression , poverty , domestic violence , child abuse , clinical psychology , psychiatry , developmental psychology , suicide prevention , poison control , medicine , social psychology , environmental health , economics , economic growth
Parenting has a considerable impact on children’s behaviour and mental health. Improving child health and behaviour requires an understanding of the relationship between parenting practices; contexual factors such asparental mental health, intimate partner violence, substance abuse and poverty; and children’s behaviour. In this article the authors report the findings of a survey of parenting and child behaviour in a small rural South Africancommunity. The findings show that corporal punishment, the stress of parenting and parental mental health are significantly associated with both children’s internalising (depression and anxiety) and externalising (rulebreakingand aggression) symptoms. Intimate partner violence in the home was also associated with children’s externalising symptoms. These findings imply that parent support and training, and an increase in services to address intimate partner violence and mental health problems, should be prioritised as part of a nationalviolence reduction strategy.