Child Well-being in Post-Soviet Countries: Discipline Practices in Families in Azerbaijan

The goal of the study was to explore the relationship between demographic, socioeconomic factors, and discipline practices in Azerbaijan to add to the scant literature on post-Soviet countries. The data came from the latest available Domestic Health Survey from 2006. The sample size was 3,753 child–caregiver pairs. The study had four dependent variables to measure disciplinary practices—positive parenting, physical aggression, psychological aggression, and beliefs in physical punishment in raising children. The independent variables were household income, age, and education of caregivers, age of children, number of household members, number of children under 5 in the household, and type of residence (rural or urban). Logistic regression models were used to test the relationship between variables. Findings were largely similar to those of studies in other countries with the exception of household income, which was not predictive of harsh parenting as has been the case in other countries. To reduce the use of corporal punishment and harsh parenting in Azerbaijan, the current study suggests a focus on parental education level and attention to family size might be more relevant than income. The study recommends the implementation of INSPIRE to prevent and eliminate violent discipline practices at home in Azerbaijan.