Fatores associados às práticas disciplinares violentas de mães de adolescentes

Abstract

Parenting practices are techniques used by parents in situations of interaction with their children and reflect a way of achieving some educational objective directly. Negative, or coercive, parenting practices constitute disciplinary attitudes that employ the use of force, physical punishment and deprivation and are associated with more negligent and abusive behaviors. In this context, family educational strategies, such as the Strong Families Program, a Brazilian adaptation of the Strengthening Families Program (SFP-UK), is a program that involves parental skills and aims to prevent the use of alcohol and drugs for families with children and adolescents between 10 and 14 years. The objective of the study was to analyze the factors associated with violent disciplinary practices among mothers of adolescents participating in a program to prevent the use of alcohol and other drugs. This is a cross-sectional study, nested within a cluster randomized controlled trial. It is noteworthy that the present study is an excerpt from a larger research. The sample was made up of 739 families using Social Assistance Reference Centers (CRAS). Data were collected using a structured questionnaire, with analyzes carried out with weighted data using Stata 16 software (descriptive analyzes and inferences) and Mplus 8 (SEM analyses). Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyzes sought to verify whether there was an association between the explanatory variables and the outcome. From multivariate regression analysis, a significant positive relationship was identified between lower socioeconomic status and the practice of severe verbal discipline and severe physical discipline. It was also seen that severe verbal discipline and mothers' education had a positive correlation. Furthermore, a negative correlation was identified between severe verbal discipline and mothers' risky/high-risk/dependency consumption. Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between severe verbal discipline and brown race/color. The study highlights the importance of encouraging actions aimed at promoting positive parenting practices, especially among mothers with lower socioeconomic status, education and black or mixed race, which may include parental education programs and public policies that promote social equity, teaching, across the various health sectors, tools and strategies to deal with parenting challenges in a positive way.