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Associations between Maternal Physical Discipline and Peer Victimization among Hong Kong Chinese Children: The Moderating Role of Child Aggression

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Abstract

This study examines the relation between maternal physical discipline and victimization by peers, as moderated by child aggression. The sample consisted of 211 Hong Kong Chinese children (98 boys, 113 girls; average age of 11.9). Physical discipline was assessed with a questionnaire completed by mothers, and victimization by peers and aggression were measured using a peer nomination inventory. Latent variable models revealed a moderately strong link between children’s experiences with maternal physical discipline and peer victimization, but this effect held only for children who were also high on aggression. These results highlight the interplay between harsh home environments and child aggression and their contributions to the child’s adjustment in the peer group.

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Notes

  1. We examined the invariance of the maternal physical discipline and peer victimization factors across the low and high aggression groups by conducting multiple group analyses with the factor loadings freed to vary. Visual examination of the results suggested similar patterns of factor loadings across groups. However, there was not true factor invariance because freeing the loadings to vary across groups improved model fit. It should be noted, however, that removing the constraints on the factor loadings did not alter the pattern of results. Accordingly, results with the factor loadings constrained are presented for ease of interpretation.

  2. As an alternative analytic approach, we also examined moderation using the regression procedures described by Aiken and West (1991). We specified a model with peer victimization predicted from physical discipline, aggression, and the two-way interaction between aggression and physical discipline. Consistent with our hypothesis, this interaction reached significance (β = 0.13, p < 0.05, sr 2 = 0.02). As per Aiken and West’s (1991) recommendations, we then conducted follow-up models predicting victimization from physical discipline at low (1 SD below the mean), medium (the mean), and high (1 SD above the mean) levels of aggression. The association between physical discipline and peer victimization increased as the level of aggression moved from low (β = −0.08, ns), to medium (β = 0.05, ns) to high (β = 0.18, p < 0.05). Maternal physical discipline was only significantly associated with victimization for children who were highly aggressive.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, 501 Seeley G. Mudd Building, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA

    Mylien T. Duong, David Schwartz, Brynn M. Kelly & Shelley R. Tom

  2. Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 3rd Floor, Sino Building, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong

    Lei Chang

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  1. Mylien T. Duong
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Correspondence to Mylien T. Duong.

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This research was supported by an Earmarked Research Grant (CUHK4620/05H) from the Research Grants Council, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China and by a grant from the University of Southern California's fund for Advancing Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences.

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Duong, M.T., Schwartz, D., Chang, L. et al. Associations between Maternal Physical Discipline and Peer Victimization among Hong Kong Chinese Children: The Moderating Role of Child Aggression. J Abnorm Child Psychol 37, 957–966 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-009-9322-4

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