Child Abuse & Neglect 38 (2014) 1073–1082 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Child Abuse & Neglect Understanding the mediating role of corporal punishment in the association between maternal stress, efficacy, co-parenting and children’s adjustment difficulties among Arab mothers  Mona Khoury-Kassabri ∗ , Shalhevet Attar-Schwartz, Hana Zur School of Social Work and Social Welfare, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel article info Article history: Received 28 January 2014 Received in revised form 14 April 2014 Accepted 21 April 2014 Available online 20 May 2014 Keywords: Corporal punishment Arab mothers Adjustment difficulties Family Systems Theory Parental efficacy abstract This study, guided by the Family Systems Theory, examines the direct effect of maternal use of corporal punishment on children’s adjustment difficulties. Also, it explores whether cor- poral punishment serves as a mediating factor in the relationship between several maternal characteristics, marital relationships, and children’s adjustment difficulties. A total of 2,447 Arab mothers completed anonymous, structured, self-report questionnaires. The use of cor- poral punishment was generally strongly supported by the Arab mothers in our sample. A greater likelihood of using corporal punishment was found among mothers of boys rather than girls, among mothers with lower perceived self-efficacy to discipline children, and among mothers with a lower perception of their husbands’ participation in child-related labor. In addition, the higher a mother’s reports on disagreement with her husband about discipline methods and the stronger her level of maternal stress, the more likely she was to use corporal punishment. Corporal punishment also mediated the association between the above mentioned factors and child adjustment difficulties. Furthermore, a husband’s emotional support and family socioeconomic status were directly associated to children’s adjustment difficulties. The results of the current study emphasize the need to observe chil- dren’s development within the context of their family systems and to consider the mutual influences of different subsystems such as marital relationships and mother–child interac- tions. Prevention and intervention programs should raise parents’ awareness concerning the harmful effects of corporal punishment and take into account the impact of dynamic transactions of parental conflicts and disagreements regarding discipline methods on child outcomes. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction Parental use of corporal punishment has tremendous adverse effects on children’s short- and long-term social, behavioral and emotional outcomes (Davidov & Khoury-Kassabri, 2013; Taylor, Guterman, Lee, & Rathouz, 2009). For example, corporal punishment is associated with both internalizing behaviors (e.g., depression and anxiety) and externalizing behaviors (e.g., delinquency and aggression) (Ferguson, 2013; Gershoff, 2002; Regev, Gueron-Sela, & Atzaba-Poria, 2012).  The study was supported by a research grant from the Anita Morawetz Fund for Research on Children at Risk. ∗ Corresponding author. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.04.009 0145-2134/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.