The Relationship Between Perceived Childhood Harsh Parental Discipline and Cyberbullying among College Students: A Moderated Mediation Model

Why am I always lonely? The lasting impact of childhood harsh parental discipline on adolescents' loneliness

“…Harsh parental discipline during childhood is a common form of parenting in Chinese families. Many Chinese parents who still retain the traditional view that "hitting and scolding is love" and no one can succeed without harsh parental discipline believe that hitting or scolding children is a good way to show their care and love (Sun et al, 2023). Some researchers have concluded that this view leads some of the public to ignore the negative effects of childhood harsh parental discipline on individuals' long-term development (Xiang, 2021), such as its influence on the experience of loneliness during adolescence.…”

“…Wang & Liu, 2014). Among these, psychological aggression and corporal punishment are the two most common forms of harsh parental discipline in Chinese parenting (Sun et al, 2023;M. Wang & Liu, 2014).…”

“…Participants judged their family SES according to the socioeconomic development of their area. SES was scored on a 10-point scale, where 1 = worst and 10 = best (Sun et al, 2023;X. Wang et al, 2022).…”

“…Childhood harsh parental discipline can be divided into psychological aggression, corporal punishment, coercion, and so on (Straus et al, 1998; M. Wang & Liu, 2014). Among these, psychological aggression and corporal punishment are the two most common forms of harsh parental discipline in Chinese parenting (Sun et al, 2023; M. Wang & Liu, 2014). Compared with parental corporal punishment, which is more aggressive and more intrusive, psychological aggression is more commonly used by parents (Straus & Field, 2003; M. Wang et al, 2016).…”

“…Specifically, childhood parental psychological aggression refers to the psychological or emotional rejection of children by parents through verbal (e.g., abusing children) or symbolic (e.g., threatening to hit the child but not hitting them) aggression in childhood. Childhood parental corporal punishment refers to the use of physical force from parents to correct or control children's behavior that causes children to experience pain and fear but not injury (e.g., spanking a child's bottom; Straus et al, 1998; Sun et al, 2023). Corporal punishment is mainly used by parents to impose harsh discipline through relatively direct violent means, whereas psychological aggression is often manifested by indirect violent means such as verbal criticism and indirect hostility (Sun et al, 2023).…”