Negative effects of childhood spanking may be overstated, study claims

A recent study looked into the long-standing debate surrounding the impact of spanking on child development. The study, published in the Marriage & Family Review, revealed that the punishment may not be as detrimental to a child’s future. The researchers found that spanking accounted for less than 1% of variations in child outcomes, showing that its negative effects might be exaggerated. The topic of whether or not spanking is an effective or harmful form of punishment has sparked considerable discussion for generations.Previous research has established a strong correlation between physical punishment and negative outcomes for children, but much of this work did not account for pre-existing behavioral issues in children. This made it challenging to determine whether spanking directly causes problems or if it is more commonly employed with children who already exhibit behavioral difficulties. Robert E.

Larzelere, an endowed professor for parenting research at Oklahoma State University and author of “Authoritative Parenting,” has dedicated 40 years to studying this topic. He claims that spanking does not lead to negative consequences unless it is administered excessively or from a place of malice rather than genuine concern for the child. “Although it is clear that spanking is correlated with adverse outcomes such as delinquency, does it cause those outcomes (like smoking) or not (like hospitalization, which is also associated with worse outcomes compared to those never hospitalized)?” Larzelere questioned.

“Answer so far: Spanking does not cause harmful outcomes unless it is used too often or too severely or out of meanness rather than out of concern for the child’s welfare.”Larzelere and his team conducted meta-analyses using data from previous studies that tracked the same children over time.By accounting for children’s behavior before spanking the researchers could hone in on the effects of spanking alone. The researchers examine...