Recollections of harsh discipline in childhood and depressive feelings in adulthood: The roles of culture and gender

• Culture and gender moderated the links between corporal punishment and depression.
• Recollections of parental corporal punishment were less detrimental for Arab males.
• Culture moderated the link between fathers' emotional aggression and depression.
• Fathers' emotional aggression was more strongly tied to depression among Arabs.
• Cultural normativeness can affect the outcomes of harsh discipline in complex ways.

The present study examined the roles of culture and gender in the association between recollections of harsh discipline experienced during childhood and levels of depressive feelings in early adulthood. A sample of Jewish (n = 250) and Arab (n = 115) university students reported regarding exposure to corporal punishment and emotional aggression from each parent during childhood, and about current depressive feelings. Consistent with predictions, both culture and gender moderated the links between corporal punishment (used by either mother or father) and depression. Arab males, for whom exposure to corporal punishment might be more culturally normative, showed a different pattern than both Arab females and Jewish respondents. Moreover, culture moderated the association between emotional aggression from fathers (but not mothers) and depression. The discussion focuses on the importance of examining the effects of gender (of child and parent) in conjunction with culture, and on the complex role of cultural normativeness.