Discipline methods of Icelandic parents

Abstract

This study explored the discipline methods of parents of 6–17 year old children in Iceland. No prior Icelandic study had asked parents themselves to evaluate their own discipline methods. Physical discipline has not been viewed as a positive upbringing method in Iceland (Sigrún Júlíusdóttir, Friðrik H. Jónsson, Nanna K. Sigurðardóttir & Sigurður J. Grétarsson 1994). However, nearly half of young people say that they have been physically disciplined (Geir Gunnlaugsson & Jónína Einarsdóttir, 2013). The Conflict Tactic Scale – Parent Child (CTSPC) questionnaire (Straus, Hamby & Warren, 2003) was used with an Icelandic sample and parents were asked about discipline methods applied during the last 12 months. The questionnaire, which was translated and pretested in Iceland, comprises 22 items which assess specific discipline methods. These methods consist of a) constructive child rearing methods, b) psychological aggression and c) three stages of physical aggression, mild, severe and very severe. A total of 617 parents responded to the questionnaire, 326 fathers (53%) and 291 mothers (47%). The ratio was similar to fathers and mothers in that age range among the general population (Hagstofa Íslands, e.d.-a). The parents were 26–76 years of age (only six parents were older than 60). The mean age of fathers was 47 years and the mean age of mothers was 44 years. Some of the parents might have been grandparents of the children, but in all cases the children were living in the households of responding parents. One fifth of participants (19%) had only completed elementary school, one fifth (19%) had completed an apprenticeship, 14% had matriculated from upper secondary NBX school, and 48% had a university degree. The ratio of parents who had completed a university degree was about three times higher than in the general population. Fewer parents had completed other kinds of degrees; here, the rate was much more similar to that of the general population. The results showed that the discipline methods primarily used by parents in Iceland are constructive. For example, 97.6% of parents explained why something the children had done was wrong. However, nearly 66% reported having used psychological aggression of some kind and 19.4% reported having applied physical force when disciplining their child during the last 12 months. There was not a significant relation between gender and discipline methods. Thus, there was no difference between mothers and fathers in terms of applying psychological aggression or physical aggression when disciplining their children. No significant difference was found among parental use of discipline methods in terms of their educational level either; nor was there a significant difference between age of parents in terms of discipline. However, a significant correlation was noted between age of parents and the frequency of psychological and physical aggression. Younger parents used this type of discipline significantly more often than older parents. Thus, those young parents who used psychological and physical discipline did so significantly more often than older parents. These results indicate that it is important to study further the relation between age of parents and their discipline methods. Also, the relation between education of parents and discipline methods should be studied in more detail, as well as other background variables, such as marital status, job status and financial status. Special attention should be given to young parents and parents who only have finished elementary school. A limitation of this study is the response rate, which was only 24%. Thus, the results cannot be generalized to the population as a whole. However, the results suggest that physical punishment may be more widely applied in the general population than published figures indicate.