1

Running head: ARTICLE CRITIQUE

Article Critique The Relationship of Harsh Discipline to Conduct Problems in Children

Shelina Hassanali
April 6
th
, 2013
EDPS 612.02

2
ARTICLE CRITIQUE
This paper will critique a recent study conducted by Lysenko, Barker and Jaffee (2013)
on sex differences in the relationship between harsh discipline and conduct problems in children.
We will examine various areas of the study, including the purpose/hypothesis, the sample, the
measures and procedures, and the data analysis. We will conclude with a discussion on the
results and conclusions of the study as well as general strengths and limitations.
Purpose/Hypothesis
The authors begin the article with a concise yet informative review of previous research
in this topic area. They state their purpose clearly, which is to attempt to decipher whether boys
have more conduct problems than girls, and to determine whether this difference is attributed to
sex differences in exposure to, or effects of, harsh discipline. The authors also provide clear ideas
as to what they expected the results of the study to be, and listed three main hypotheses. It is
suggested that they would find that boys experienced harsher punishment than girls but that the
effect of this harsh discipline would be the same for boys and girls; that harsh discipline would
increase after the age of 5 years and the effect of it would decrease as it becomes more
normative; and that the relationship between harsh discipline and conduct problems would
become bidirectional over time. The paper also includes (both towards the beginning and again
at the end) the importance of this type of study, including the fact that modifying parent-child
relationships in hopes to reduce antisocial behaviour is an easier task than modifying
physiological or other factors contributing to such behaviour. The purpose and hypothesis
section of this article is strong, and provides a good rationale for the purpose and importance of
this topic as well as clear hypotheses as to what the results may be.
Sample
3
ARTICLE CRITIQUE
In the abstract, the authors state that the sample was taken from the Twins Early
Development Study (TEDS), which is a longitudinal study of over 10 000 twin pairs born in
England and Wales. Later in the article, it is stated that the sample in this study included 27,660
twins of which 13,868 were females and 13,792 were males. In terms of the way the sample size
is communicated to the reader, the authors may have provided this information more clearly as it
is somewhat confusing to determine the sample size at first read. Communication of the numbers
notwithstanding, the sample size in this study is excellent. Also, the authors provide clear
evidence of the sample being representative of the general population in the United Kingdom,
comparing percentages of familial demographic, education, and employment information of the
sample with the same data obtained in UK census data. The sample size and representation seem
to be sound and on par with the expected qualities of a strong research study.
Measures & Procedures
A few different measures were used in this study. To determine the level of conduct
problems, mothers were asked to report these problems at the ages of three, four, and seven. Two
different tools were used to report this information: the Preschool Behaviour Questionnaire
(PBQ) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The authors provide examples of
questions from these measures which give the reader an understanding of what the mothers were
reporting on. Also, they support their choice of tools by informing the reader of the strengths in
internal consistency, test-retest stability, reliability, and validity which these tools hold.
Disciplinary action was also examined by asking mothers about which forms of discipline
they used and how often they used it (answers could fall on a six-point scale ranging from
rarely/never to usually). The authors provide examples of actions which the mothers were
asked to report on, including smacking, slapping, restraining or shouting. These examples are
4
ARTICLE CRITIQUE
important because they give the reader some sense of what the authors consider to be harsh
discipline. Prior to this example, there is no operational definition provided for what harsh
discipline means in this study, which is a significant weakness. Relying on parent self-reports of
discipline tactics such as slapping or shouting can also be problematic due to the fact that parents
may not honestly/accurately report the frequency of such incidences for fear of judgement by the
researcher(s) or other negative reactions to such an admission. While it is hoped that the reports
would be accurate, it is quite possible that mothers would underreport, which could significantly
skew the results of this study. Furthermore, fathers were not included in this study, which may be
a weakness as the results may have been different if they were included.
Data Analysis
This study used many different techniques for data analysis both between families and
within families. To determine whether sex differences existed in levels of harsh punishment, t-
tests were used. To determine if these differences accounted for sex differences in conduct
problems, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses were used. Group modelling, path
analysis, and chi-square difference tests were also carried out. In their analysis, the researchers
also created four different models which were then analyzed for various factors, including
parent-driven effects, child-driven effects, a sex-constrained model, and a model which
presumed no relationship between discipline and conduct issues. The data analysis procedures in
this study seem to be very strong, as the authors carried out many different analyses and used
various tools and techniques. They also challenged their own hypotheses and created different
models of data to determine whether or not differences exist in harsh discipline for boys and
girls, whether this is linked to conduct problems, and also the directionality of any existing
relationship (i.e. whether harsh parent driven discipline causes child conduct problems, or child
5
ARTICLE CRITIQUE
conduct problems cause harsh parent discipline). The researchers examined their data thoroughly
and considered the effects of many variables on their data, including between-families variables.
They extended their analysis within families, which controlled for variables found between
families such as differences in socioeconomic status or maternal depression. One potential
weakness of the way the information is communicated is that the diagrams provided are difficult
to interpret for the reader who is unfamiliar with higher level data analysis.
Results/Conclusions
The conclusions of this study are consistent with the information provided in the analysis
section of the article. The authors conclude that their results confirm and extend previous data
which has shown that boys experience significantly more harsh discipline and have higher rates
of conduct problems than girls and that sex differences in mean levels of harsh discipline
accounted for sex differences in conduct problems. They support their conclusions by referring
back to their data as well as comparing their results to previous studies. The fact that they were
able to replicate and extend previous findings is a strength because we can be more confident in
our findings when results are replicated at different times for different populations.
Another strength of the conclusion section of this article is that the authors make their
data and findings practical by offering the implications of their study on practice. They state that
this data sheds light on the etiology of conduct problems and that it has implications for
prevention and intervention. They provide specific examples of practical use of the data,
including suggestions for reduction of childrens exposure to harsh discipline tactics, the
importance of early intervention (as children were exposed to highest levels of harsh discipline
between age five and eight), that interventions should be targeted to families with young children
and also to boys, and that pediatric professionals should provide positive parenting and discipline
6
ARTICLE CRITIQUE
strategies to parents. This is an important aspect of this research article as the reader is provided
with practical application of the data.
Strengths and Limitations
While strengths and limitations of this research study are discussed in each section above,
the authors also spend quite some time discussing their own perceptions of the strengths and
limitations of their study. This in itself is a strength, as they were able to critically analyze their
own work. One of the weaknesses found in terms of who is reporting the data is that the mothers
(for various reasons) may underreport their use of harsh discipline and they may over report
instances of conduct problems. There is also the chance that the opposite is true, that is, that
mothers may under report conduct problems for fear of childrens anti-social behaviour being
reflective of poor parenting. The authors acknowledge this weakness as well, indicating that
since both harsh discipline and conduct problems were reported by the mothers, this could lead
to informant bias. Another potential weakness discussed by the authors is that fathers use of
harsh discipline is not reported in this study. It would be interesting to examine whether or not
differences exist in fathers use of harsh discipline on boys and girls, and whether this has
different outcomes in terms of future conduct problems.
One significant weakness of this study is that there is no operational definition provided
for harsh discipline. This is concerning because actions/tactics which are considered harsh to
one person may not be considered harsh by another; that is, it is highly subjective and therefore
needs to be operationalized so that the reader is aware of what the researchers considered to be
harsh. The authors do not list this as a weakness of their study, perhaps assuming that the reader
is aware of what harsh discipline may consist of. They do, however, state that it would be
7
ARTICLE CRITIQUE
preferable to use more established and/or extensive measures of harsh discipline than the ones
used in their study.
Despite these weaknesses, there are also many strengths of this study. The sample size is
excellent and provides a good pool of data to pull information from. Also, the fact that the study
was longitudinal and used repeated measures at different ages is also a strength as the data can be
compared and changes in harsh discipline and conduct problems over time can be examined. The
authors also state that a strength of their study as compared to other studies is that they were able
to model the bi-directionality of the relationship between harsh discipline and conduct problems,
which thus far, other studies have not been able to do. Finally, the authors chose to do both a
between families and within families design, which allowed them to somewhat control for
variables such as SES, parental education and employment differences, and
neighbourhood/environmental factors.
Summary
Upon a thorough critical analysis of this article, it seems that overall it is a sound piece of
research which is beneficial and has important practical applications and implications for both
parents and professionals who work with young children, as well as those who work in the area
of providing training for parents. The authors provide a clear rationale for their study, as well as
well-defined hypothesis. While the communication of the sample size could be clearer, the
sample used in the study was sound and representative of the UK population. We should be
careful when attempting to generalize the findings to other cultures however, as child discipline
is an area which heavily differs between cultures. The measures used to determine conduct issues
were sufficient, however, future studies in this area should make use of more established/well-
researched measures of harsh discipline, and future studies in this area should ensure that a clear
8
ARTICLE CRITIQUE
operational definition of exactly what is meant by harsh discipline is included. The data
analysis in this study is very thorough and provides information about all of the data collected
and the various ways in which the data can be interpreted. The results and conclusions flow
logically from the data and not only confirm but extend previous findings. The practical
implications of this study are communicated effectively and specific applications are suggested.
The authors also spend a good amount of time discussing strengths and limitations of their study,
which indicates careful critical evaluation of their own work. Overall, this is an important study
and provides a solid base for further research in this area.


9
ARTICLE CRITIQUE
References
Lysenko, L.J., Barker, E.D., & Jaffee, S.R. (2013). Sex differences in the relationship between
harsh discipline and conduct problems. Social Development, 22(1), pp. 197214. doi:
10.1111/sode.12002