{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,6]],"date-time":"2026-03-06T15:00:09Z","timestamp":1772809209427,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,10]],"date-time":"2020-03-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1583798400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study explored factors affecting parents\u2019 intentions to use physical violence (PV) to discipline their children in the future. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) guided selection of variables. A sample of 1337 preschool children\u2019s parents from nine kindergartens located in a county of Henan Province, China were selected by stratified random cluster sampling. Data on parents\u2019 attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control over PV, intentions to engage in PV to discipline their preschool children in the future, self-reported PV behavior toward their children during the past three months, and demographic characteristics were collected via a paper-based questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression analyses examined putative predictors of parents\u2019 intentions to use physically violent discipline. Nearly three-quarters of the sample said they definitely will not use violent discipline, while 23.4% either said they would use it, or did not rule it out. Logistic regression analysis showed that parents\u2019 lower level of perceived behavioral control over using violence (OR 4.17; 95% CI: 2.659, 6.551), attitudes that support PV (OR 2.23; 95% CI: 1.555, 3.203), and having been physically violent with their children during the past three months (OR 1.62; 95% CI: 1.032, 2.556) were significantly associated with parents\u2019 tendency either to include, or not exclude, the use of violent discipline. Parents\u2019 subjective norms regarding PV had no significant impact on their intentions (p &gt; 0.05). The influence of TPB constructs varied according to parents\u2019 gender. Intervention programs that aim to reduce violent discipline should focus both on increasing parents\u2019 perceived behavioral control over PV and changing their attitudes toward physically violent practices, especially among mothers and parents who have already used PV to discipline their children.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph17051787","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,10]],"date-time":"2020-03-10T11:59:36Z","timestamp":1583841576000},"page":"1787","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Factors that Influence Chinese Parents\u2019 Intentions to Use Physical Violence to Discipline Their Preschool Children"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Haixue","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Guangrong","family":"Zhu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1512-1003","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jingqi","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Linjing","family":"Lyu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Michael","family":"Dunne","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane 4000, Australia"},{"name":"Institute for Community Health Research, Hue University, Hue 530000, Vietnam"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"161","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chiabu.2018.03.011","article-title":"Childhood maltreatment: A predictor of mental health problems among adolescents and young adults","volume":"80","author":"Badr","year":"2018","journal-title":"Child Abus. 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