Perceived norms, social network exposure, and physical discipline of children: Sociocentric network study of caregivers in rural Uganda

Background Physical discipline is associated with negative developmental, social, and emotional outcomes in children. However, social influences on caregivers' use of physical discipline, including perceived norms and social network exposure, remain understudied. Objectives To assess whether caregivers' use of physical discipline was associated with perceived norms and social network exposure to physical discipline. Participants and setting Adult caregivers ( N = 1026) in rural Uganda. Methods In this sociocentric study, participants reported their past-week use of physical discipline and perceptions of how often most caregivers in their villages used physical discipline. Participants also named other caregivers with whom they interacted across life domains. We compared perceived norms with aggregated self-reports of behavior and used multivariable Poisson regression models with cluster-robust standard errors to estimate associations between perceived norms, social network exposure to caregivers who used physical discipline, and personal engagement in physical discipline. Results Most caregivers overestimated the prevalence and frequency of physical discipline among other caregivers in their villages. Misperceiving physical discipline as normative was positively associated with personal physical discipline behavior. For example, women who (mistakenly) perceived that most other women used physical discipline multiple times in the past week were almost twice as likely to use physical discipline themselves (adjusted relative risk [aRR] = 1.97, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.40–2.77, p < .001). Network exposure to caregivers who used physical discipline was not associated with physical discipline use among women and was negatively associated with physical discipline use among men. Conclusions Interventions that correct misperceived norms may be used to reduce physical discipline behaviors.