Study detects factors that promote and hinder positive parenting practices by parents

Investigating the discipline methods used by parents and primary caregivers was one of the objectives of the Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (CAP) study in relation to Violence in Childhood in Chile.
The research, carried out by UNICEF, together with the Center for Justice and Society Studies (CJS), the Directorate of Social Studies (DESUC) and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC), identifies the factors that promote and hinder positive practices in parenting.
Among the positive parenting practices, which are protective of the use of physical and psychological violence, are that parents have support through social parenting programs or professional assistance have close relatives to help them with the care of children and in household chores, the level of satisfaction with one’s own parenting and skills to develop it and the possibility of accessing spaces to share with other parents about parental experiences.
UNICEF Protection Specialist Ludmila Palazzo explains that the parents interviewed in the study agree on the elements that are part of the factors that promote positive parenting.
“This information is very relevant, since it allows to incorporate in public policies initiatives that aim to favor positive parenting. In many cases it is about articulating local networks, providing more and better information about the stages of parenting and what to expect in each of them, or strengthening support programs,” he says.
Likewise, the specialist highlights that the parents interviewed indicated that they seek information about parenting in books, the internet and with well-known people to solve doubts and apply them in their own lives.
“With these actions, parents seek to resolve doubts about the needs of children at different stages of development, correcting the lack of access to professional support,” he says.
Risk factors
Meanwhile, the absence of these elements mentioned above and a greater number of children in the home appear as factors that hinder positive parenting practices.
In the study, parents and caregivers also mention economic factors that affect the type of practices they exercise with children and adolescents in their care, such as lack of resources, access to basic services and job stability, to which is added the security of the environment, because the greater the insecurity, the stricter the discipline they apply with their sons and daughters.
The lower exercise of positive practices is also perceived with greater intensity in the case of single-parent households. The research shows that there would be an increase in the prevalence of psychological, general and physical violence, in the case of single-parent households headed by heads of household, because they have less support in parenting.
However, the study also warns that in those homes where there is more than one caregiver, not achieving agreement between the adults in charge would have negative consequences on upbringing, since many times children and adolescents would receive different and even contradictory disciplines.
History of violence in caregivers
According to the study, one of the factors that would increase the risk of using violent practices in parenting would be the history of violence of caregivers. The data reveal that having received physical punishment during childhood is related to an increase in the prevalence of violent practices, and a decrease in positive practices, even more so if this situation is validated by the adult.
The study indicates that 61.5% of caregivers who received punishment during their childhood and validate it, consider both positive and violent practices effective in the upbringing of their children. This decreases to 43.7% for caregivers who received punishment, but do not validate it, and to 44.4%, for those who did not receive it.
Likewise, among caregivers with a history of physical punishment, and who justify it, there are more ambivalent attitudes and in favor of psychological punishment, with 44.9%, while this is 30.7% for those who do not validate that punishment received, and 31.1% for those who did not receive it.
In these last two cases, most have attitudes against this type of violence, with a 52.2% and 55.1%, respectively, a percentage that is lower for those who received physical violence and validate it, where only 27.7% have attitudes against psychological violence.   
The CAP study is the first of its kind to be done in Chile. It is an innovative initiative, which explores the social norms that can be associated with positive discipline and violence towards children and adolescents. The research combines a quantitative and qualitative methodology of data collection, with the hope that these will serve to promote positive parenting practices and thus reduce violence. 

Original source in Spanish