Parenting in a conflict-affected setting: Discipline practices, parent-child interactions, and parenting stress in Liberia.

Children in conflict-affected settings are at increased risk for exposure to violence, placing particular importance on caregiving environments. This study first describes parenting in urban Liberia by evaluating parent-child interactions, the use and acceptance of harsh and nonharsh discipline, discipline preferences, and the co-occurrence of positive interactions and harsh discipline. The relationship between parenting stress and harsh discipline attitudes and behaviors is then tested. Participants included 813 parents with a child aged 3 or 4 years old. A quantitative survey battery assessed parent-child interactions; discipline practices, preferences, and attitudes; and parenting stress. Parents reported frequent use and high acceptance of nonharsh discipline, as well as frequent positive interactions with their child. Though parents reported less frequent use and low acceptance of harsh discipline, preference for harsh discipline-based on hypothetical situations rather than self-report-was common. There was co-occurrence of frequent positive interactions and frequent harsh discipline, with one third reporting high frequency of both. Regression analysis revealed greater parenting stress (ß = .15, t = 4.49, p < .001) and stronger acceptance of harsh discipline (ß = .47, t = 15.49, p < .001) were associated with more frequent harsh discipline. Acceptance of harsh discipline interacted with parenting stress to predict the use of harsh discipline (ß = -.09, t = -3.09, p < .01). Among parents with lowest average acceptance of harsh practices, stress predicted more frequent harsh discipline, but acceptance did not moderate the association for those who are most accepting of harsh practices. Building on existing parenting strengths and addressing parenting stress could promote nurturing caregiving in conflict-affected settings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The impact of the 2014 Ebola virus disease outbreak in Liberia on parent preferences for harsh discipline practices: a quasi-experimental, pre-post design.

BACKGROUND: This paper uses data from a cohort of parents and guardians of young children living in Monrovia, Liberia collected before and after the 2014 outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) to estimate the impact of EVD exposure on implicit preferences for harsh discipline. We hypothesized that parents exposed to EVD-related sickness or death would exhibit a stronger preference for harsh discipline practices compared with non-exposed parents. METHODS: The data for this analysis come from two survey rounds conducted in Liberia as part of an intervention trial of a behavioral parenting skills intervention. Following a baseline assessment of 201 enrolled parents in July 2014, all program and study activities were halted due to the outbreak of EVD. Following the EVD crisis, we conducted a tracking survey with parents who completed the baseline survey 12 months prior. In both rounds, we presented parents with 12 digital comic strips of a child misbehaving and asked them to indicate how they would react if they were the parent in the stories. RESULTS: Parents from households with reported EVD sickness or death became more 'harsh' (Glass's delta = 1.41) in their hypothetical decision-making compared with non-exposed parents, t (167)=-2.3, p  <  0.05. Parents from households that experienced EVD-related sickness or death not only reported significantly more household conflict and anxiety, but also reported that their child exhibited fewer difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: Results support the need for family-based interventions, including strategies to help parents learn alternatives to harsh punishment.