Longitudinal Relation between Harsh Punishment and Psychoticism among Chinese Early Adolescents: Disentangling between‑ and within‑Family Effects

Abstract

This longitudinal study examined bidirectional relations between parental harsh punishment and psychoticism at the between‑ and within‑family levels in Chinese adolescents. There were 3,307 Chinese youth (43.6% girls, M_age = 11.30 years, SD = 0.24) who participated in a 4-wave longitudinal study, spaced 12 months apart. The results of cross-lagged panel modeling (i.e. CLPM) found the significant bidirectional relations between parental harsh punishment and psychoticism at the between-family level. However, the within-person level analysis of random intercept cross-lagged panel modeling (i.e. RI-CLPM) only revealed parental harsh punishment significantly predicted youth psychoticism, but not vice versa. Moreover, no sex differences were observed in the bidirectional relations between parental harsh punishment and psychoticism at the between- or within-family level. These results suggest parental harsh parenting could exacerbate the psychoticism trait at both the between- and within-family level, whereas the influence of young people’s psychoticism on harsh parenting response from parents occurs only at the between-family level. The findings help to understand the nature of the dynamic process of change between psychoticism and harsh parenting among Chinese adolescents.

Keywords:

• Harsh punishment
• psychoticism
• between‑ and within‑family effects
• Chinese adolescents

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

Funds from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2021ZD0203804). Funds for Humanities and Social Sciences Youth Foundation, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China (No. 22YJC190031). Funds for Young Doctor of Institutions of Higher Learning of Gansu Province (No. 2022QB-036). Funds for General Project of Social Science Planning of Gansu Province (No. 2022YB057). Funds for Youth Science and Technology of Gansu Province (No. 22JR5RA170). Funds for Postgraduate Program of Gansu Province (No. 2022CXZX-281).

Notes on contributors

Li’an Wang

Xiaoli Yang is a Professor at Northwest Normal University. Her major research interests include youth development and social psychology.

Xiaoli Yang

Li’an Wang is a graduate student at Northwest Normal University. Her major research interests include youth development, school psychology and positive psychology.

Haiyan Zhao

Haiyan Zhao is a graduate student at Northwest Normal University. Her major research interests include parenting, youth development, and mental health.

Jianhua Zhou

Jianhua Zhou is a Professor at Northwest Normal University. Her major research interests include parenting, youth development and social psychology.