| Corporal punishment (CP) has been linked to a variety of negative outcomes for children. Parents' attitudes towards CP are a strong predictor of their use of this parenting behavior. Several brief and cost-effective interventions have been developed to target these attitudes with the goal of changing use of CP. The current study expands on these approaches by evaluating the effects of a brief, psycho-educational intervention incorporating aspects of Motivational Interviewing (MI). Forty-three mothers of children ages 3 to 5 participated in a motivational psycho-education session. They were randomly assigned to intervention or waitlist, completing assessments at baseline, post-intervention, and one-month follow-up. After follow-up, the waitlist condition crossed over, completing the intervention and further assessments. The intervention was associated with greater reductions in CP attitudes and intentions compared to waitlist; these effects were replicated in the crossover group. Further, participants' in-session change-talk predicted greater changes in attitudes over time. Implications and future directions are discussed. |
