Higher Income is Associated with Increased Physical Discipline During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Kelly McGregory, Qianqian Zhao and Megan A. Moreno

Background: In 2022, 95,000 U.S. children were victims of physical abuse. Historically, physical abuse is reported more frequently among children from families with lower socioeconomic status. However, whether parental discipline practices changed during the COVID-19 pandemic remains unclear.

Objective: To assess the frequency of reported discipline practices, parental perception of child behavior, and changes in physical discipline, and to examine their association with household income during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants and Setting: A national, cross-sectional survey study recruited U.S. parents of children aged 17 years and younger through Qualtrics panels in August 2022.

Methods: We administered surveys that include adapted questions from a validated child abuse scale, perceived changes in child behavior and parent discipline practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chi-square tests examined the association between the use of different disciplines and household income.

Results: Among 1886 participants, mean age was 35.6 years (SD = 8.7), 71.9% identified as female and 75.2% as White; 50.9% reported using physical discipline. Higher income (>$150,000) was associated with a greater frequency of aggressive shaking compared with lower income (40.2% vs 13.9%, p < 0.0001), and with more frequent use of other harsh physical discipline practices. Higher-income parents were more likely to report increased use of physical discipline during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with lower-income parents (16.7% vs 3.7% p < 0.0001).

Conclusion: Parents with higher income were more likely to report harsh discipline practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bias toward identifying physical abuse in lower-income families could lead to under-diagnosis and under- reporting of physical abuse among higher-income families.

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