Victims of childhood abuse are at greater risk for perpetrating child abuse than individuals without histories of childhood abuse. In order to develop effective prevention programs for at-risk populations, it is important to understand the factors that may mediate the relationship between childhood disciplinary history and risk for abusive parenting. The current study drew on a sample of 459 undergraduate students (97 percent reported having no children of their own) who completed self-report questionnaires measuring disciplinary history, disciplinary attitudes, and parenting responses. Questions focused on participants’ ratings of the appropriateness, harshness, and abusiveness of specific disciplinary behaviors. Results of structural equation modeling revealed that more than half of the relationship between childhood disciplinary history and subsequent disciplinary responses was accounted for by disciplinary attitudes; thus, attitudes partially mediated the association between childhood disciplinary history and risk for abusive parenting. The findings underscore the need for prevention programs to focus on disciplinary attitudes when working with individuals at risk of child abuse perpetration. Future research on this topic should focus on less-educated pre-parents from diverse ethnic backgrounds and socioeconomic strata. Table, figures, references