Exploring Mothers' and Fathers' Reported Use of Discipline Practices With Their Preschoolers: Associations With Parental Well-Being

Abstract:Supporting parents in use of effective, evidence-based discipline remains an important goal for research, practice, and policy. This study explored parental well-being and reported discipline practices with preschoolers (2–5 years). Parents (N = 205; 97 fathers) completed a Qualtrics-based survey assessing discipline practices, feelings of judgment in the parental role, anxiety and depression symptoms, and fear of happiness. Parents higher on anxiety used greater structure/limit setting. Higher parental anxiety and depression symptoms related to greater fear of happiness, and fathers higher on anxiety reported greater judgment in the parental role. For mothers, fear of happiness was modestly and positively associated with use of directive/punitive discipline and negatively associated with use of structure/limit setting. Results suggest parental well-being may be linked to discipline use in unique ways for mothers and fathers. Findings can support researchers and community professionals in understanding an array of parental characteristics that may relate to discipline practices.