Parenting discipline styles and child psychopathology in a clinical sample of Egyptian children in the Nile Delta region

Abstract

Background Few, if any, studies evaluated the effect of violent parenting discipline on children’s psychological well-being in the Nile Delta region. The current study aimed to explore the spectrum of violent versus non-violent parenting discipline styles practiced by a sample of Egyptian families who came for psychiatric advice in Tanta Psychiatry and Neurology Center and the effects of such styles on youth’s problem behavior and psychiatric diagnoses. Two hundred and seven families were recruited and interviewed using the Kiddie Schedule of affective disorders and schizophrenia-present and life-time version “K-SADS-PL.” Arabic translated and validated versions of the conflict tactics scale–parent child version (CTS-PC) and the child behavioral checklist questionnaire (CBCL) for ages 6–18 years were used to evaluate parenting discipline styles and child psychopathology, respectively. Results Youth (n = 207) had an average age of 10.8 ± 2.8 years and 30% were females. A significant association was noted between all forms of psychological and physical violence against children, in addition to neglectful parenting, and both internalizing and externalizing problems in offspring with no significant differences between mild and severe forms of violence. Parents who were sexually abused as children had more tendency to practice violent discipline strategies on their own children. Conclusions All forms of child maltreatment, even mild forms, have a considerable effect on the child psychological development. National policies and legalization should be implemented to decrease child maltreatment and protect children from all forms of physical and sexual abuse.

Relation between Parenting Style of Primary School Age Children and their Psychosocial Behaviors

“…In addition, there was a negative highly statistically significant correlation between the total score of authoritarian parenting style and psychological behavior of their children (P<0.001 and r = -0.269) (Table 6 and 8). This is consistent with a study conducted by Seleem & Amer (2017) (24) their results indicated that a significant association was noted between all forms of psychological and physical maltreatment against children and both internalizing and externalizing problems while internalizing problem behavior is focused on the own self (e.g., withdrawal, anxiety, depression, emotional problems) and externalizing problem behavior particularly occurs in interaction with the social environment (e.g., aggression, impulsivity, deviance and hyperactivity). Moreover, Kol (2016) (25) found that there is a negative correlation in the self-control skills dimension of the social skills of over protective and authoritarian parenting styles.…”

Parents’ self-reporting of Child Physical Maltreatment (CPM) in a low-middle-income country

“…Attitudes toward physical punishment of children as a form of discipline may be affected greatly by unawareness and cultural norms [ 28 ]. According to Egyptian traditional culture, some CPM behaviors, especially the minor CPM behaviors, may not be considered abusive, because corporal punishment is somewhat accepted as a disciplining approach [ 36 ]. Our results support this observation, given that almost third of the parents in this study reported being abused physically themselves as children.…”

A comparison of the performance of normal middle social class Egyptian infants and toddlers with the reference norms of the Bayley Scales -third edition (Bayley III): A pilot study

“…In accordance, recent Egyptian studies proved that all forms of child maltreatment, even mild forms, are associated with increased levels of internalizing and externalizing problems in offspring. In addition, child neglect was linked to social, thought, and attention problems as well as externalizing and internalizing disorders [ 30 , 31 ].…”