Time-outs, removal of privileges, yelling and spanking - these are the four most common disciplinary actions, yet a third of parents report that they don't work. Research in the latest issue of Clinical Pediatrics indicates that parents want their child's pediatrician to work with them to develop effective and personally tailored discipline practices.

The research, published by SAGE Publications in the January issue of Clinical Pediatrics, and lead author Dr. Shari Barken of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina, indicates that, while national guidelines urge pediatricians to address discipline, many don't know what leads parents to use different discipline approaches.

To provide more clarity, Dr. Barkin and her colleagues surveyed parents at the pediatrician's office before their child's well-child exam. The survey asked about the use of common discipline practices, about the perception of discipline effectiveness, and the surrounding factors of each type of discipline. The researchers found several factors that went into the types of discipline used, such as: the child's age, the family's race and ethnicity, and how parents were disciplined during their own childhood. The research provides pediatricians with more information so they can address discipline more consistently and effectively with their patients' parents.

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This study was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Robert Wood Johnson Generalist Faculty Scholars Program, and the American Academy of Pediatrics' Friends of Children Fund. To access the article, "Determinants of Parental Discipline Practices: A National Sample From Primary Care Practices" published in the January 2007 issue of Clinical Pediatrics, free for a limited time, go to: cpj.sagepub/cgi/reprint/46/1/64.

Peer-reviewed by respected physicians and academics from a wide-range of settings including hospitals, clinics, private practice, and key medical schools, Clinical Pediatrics focuses on typical practice-oriented challenges such as ADHD, alternative medicine, antibiotics, bicycle injuries, childhood obesity, head lice, human papilloma virus vaccine, hypertension, new combination vaccines, new diabetes treatments, pediatric emergencies, practice management, and resident education. clinicalpediatrics.sagepub

SAGE Publications is a leading international publisher of journals, books, and electronic media for academic, educational, and professional markets. Since 1965, SAGE has helped inform and educate a global community of scholars, practitioners, researchers, and students spanning a wide range of subject areas including business, humanities, social sciences, and science, technology and medicine. A privately owned corporation, SAGE has principal offices in Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, and Singapore. sagepublications/

Contact: Judy Erickson
SAGE Publications