Background: Findings are few and mixed regarding the moderating influence that supportive parenting might have on the link between corporal punishment and child depressive symptoms.
Method: A multiple regression model was estimated to examine proposed relationships in a 1-year longitudinal community-recruited sample of 89 children (56% male; 9-12 years).
Results: High levels of corporal punishment in tandem with high levels of supportive communication were associated with the highest levels of depressive symptoms.
Conclusions: Although supportive parenting behaviors have been shown to be beneficial for child outcomes, when considering a stress-process framework, simultaneous experiences of harsh and positive parenting may yield more negative outcomes.
Keywords: Communication; depression; parent-child interaction; parenting.
© 2012 The Authors. Child and Adolescent Mental Health. © 2012 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.