Moms' financial fears led to more spanking, shouting

"It seems to be the anticipation of the disaster rather than high levels of unemployment themselves, so things were getting really bad when things were getting worse, when the stock market was falling," said one of the study co-authors, Sara McLanahan, a professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton University.

"Very few people" said they never did any of these things, McLanahan said, but to be identified as "harsh parenting," the behavior had to happen a number of times. "They were doing this stuff a lot."

When the unemployment rate climbed, researchers were surprised to find a drop in the so-called harsher parenting, she said.

"People adjust to really bad things when they know what to expect," she said, explaining the findings. "It's the feeling of being out of control (that) is almost worse."

Not all mothers responded to the economic uncertainty by being tougher on their children. About one-half of mothers studied carried a gene variation that's connected to regulating mood and behavior. Only those mothers increased harsh parenting as economic conditions worsened. The struggling economic conditions did not affect the levels of shouting, threatening and spanking among mothers without the gene variation.

As economic conditions improved, the mothers with the gene variation were less likely than other mothers to engage in harsh parenting.

"When things were getting better, this same group of people actually responded more positively, so they're not just worriers," McLanahan said. "They're just sensitive to what's going on. So when things are getting worse, they seem to do worse. When things are getting better, they seem to do better."

Still, as the economy failed, the increase in harsh parenting was greater than the decrease in tough parenting later when the financial outlook improved.

"It is scarier when you are losing something," she said, compared with how good you feel "when you're gaining."

McLanahan and her fellow co-authors from New York and Columbia universities and Pennsylvania State University's College of Medicine knew that economic strains of the past, such as the Great Depression, affected families. Since they were already gathering data for another study during and after the economic crash, they decided to explore the impact of the Great Recession. Fathers were interviewed for the study, but their DNA was not collected.

"It is affecting a lot more people than just who becomes actually unemployed (and) loses their house," McLanahan said. "We know it affects those people, but this is saying there's a lot more people who are reacting."

The researchers didn't study the impact of the yelling, threatening and slapping on children, but previous research shows those actions can lead to behavior problems, including depression, shyness and withdrawal, as well overly aggressive behavior, McLanahan said.

"We know harsh parenting is bad," she said.

She and her fellow researchers plan to follow up with the families in the study to determine the effects on children.

The implications from the study, for policymakers and all of us, are realizing how many more people might be affected by economic uncertainty -- not just an adult going through a layoff or foreclosure, McLanahan said.

"Being able to try to promote as much security as you can is a good idea," she said.