Intergenerational Continuity and Discontinuity in Harsh Parenting

Abstract

The Family Transitions Project began in 1989 to see how rural families in Iowa were coping with the severe economic downturn in agriculture at that time. In this report we show that cohort members who were treated harshly by their parents tended to emulate these behaviors with their children. However, if they co-parented with a partner who demonstrated a warm and supportive parenting style, intergenerational continuity was disrupted.