1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«[T]he present research used hypothetical scenarios to test the impact of logical consequences, mild punishments and no BLIMIT [behavioral limitation] on mothers’ and their school-aged children’s effectiveness and acceptability beliefs, and verified if these perceptions varied according to discipline climates. As a secondary goal, we also tested the moderating effect of actual parenting on participants’ perceptions.» (p. 14-15)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«Given that both logical consequences and mild punishments limit children’s behavioral repertoire, we expected that mothers and children would perceive these strategies as equally effective to prevent future transgressions and as more effective than no BLIMIT. In addition, participants should perceive both mild punishments and logical consequences as more acceptable than the no BLIMIT condition because these strategies provide greater structure at a time when self-regulation is required but children persist in acting in socially unacceptable ways […]. However, we expected that participants would evaluate logical consequences as more acceptable than mild punishments since they have greater informational value.» (p. 15)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«A total of 215 children (Mage = 10.42 years; SD = 1.04) participated in this study (47% boys) and 168 of these children’s mothers also participated (aged between 25 and 53 years old; M = 39.61 years; SD = 5.24). Most mothers reported being French Canadians (86.9%); other mothers in the sample reported Arabic (3%), French (2.4%) or Hispanic (1.8%) ancestries.» (p. 15)

Instruments :
Questionnaire

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«Overall, the effects of BLIMIT strategies and discipline climates on perceived effectiveness and acceptability were similar for mothers and children, albeit with some differences. Mothers rated logical consequences as the most effective BLIMIT strategy for preventing future transgressions, and rated no BLIMIT as least effective. They also rated logical consequences as more acceptable than mild punishments and no BLIMIT. We observed these effects in both discipline climates despite a significant interaction between BLIMIT strategies and climates. This interaction revealed that all observed differences between BLIMIT strategies were accentuated when they were preceded by AS [autonomy-supportive] climates compared to CTL [controlling] ones. Moreover, mothers perceived all BLIMIT strategies more positively in AS climates compared to CTL ones, again despite the interaction. Children believed that logical consequences and mild punishments were equally effective in preventing transgressions, and that both strategies were more effective than no BLIMIT. However, children rated logical consequences as more acceptable than mild punishments, but no significant difference was found between these two BLIMIT strategies and the no BLIMIT condition. Like mothers, children perceived BLIMIT strategies more positively in AS climates compared to CTL ones. However, for children, the effects of BLIMIT strategies and discipline climates were additive as differences between BLIMIT strategies were constant across climates.» (p. 20)