USA Today is profiling a study in the medical journal Pediatrics that connects non-abusive physical punishment (i.e. spanking) of children with mental disorders later in life.
“There is a significant link between the two,” says Afifi, an assistant professor of epidemiology in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba, Canada. “Individuals who are physically punished have an increased likelihood of having mental health disorders.” Approximately 2% to 7% of mental disorders in the study were linked to physical punishment, she says.
The study’s findings add evidence to the argument that “physical punishment should not be used on any child, at any age,” she says.
Interestingly, physical punishment of any form has been banned for years in 30 countries, but is still legal in the US and Canada.
One person contesting the conclusions of this study is Robert Larzelere, who coauthored a study in 2005 that studied many forms of discipline. He feels that “appropriate” physical punishment combined with non-physical discipline can be the most effective tool in curbing bad behavior.
As a parent, on a personal level, I know that the type of physical punishment recommended by Lazerlere is rare. Most often, it seems spanking or other forms of physical discipline come when a parent is angry, not when they’re monitoring themselves closely to be sure to inflict the right amount of pressure combined with non-physical behavioral consequences. I would be interested in a study of parents who use physical punishment to discover whether they’re doing it “right”.
I fear, rather, that parents who use physical discipline in anger, without the appropriate corresponding behavioral consequences and conversations, will take any excuse to say “Spanking is healthy and important” without looking at the data.
What do you think? Were you spanked or otherwise punished physically?
How do you discipline your children?
If you did spank, did you always feel totally in control of yourself? How were you sure that you didn’t go too far?
Photo of lonely boy courtesy of Shutterstock
Ok, I have a stupid question. Does anyone else have experiences like the following? Nearly every one of my male friends and family (black and white) have a variation on a story that could be entitled, “…And that was the last time my parents hit me.” Sometimes it because kid fed up and hauled off on the parent (kid still got beat but he was sixteen and well past the point when physical punishment should have been a viable option), sometime the kid shamed the parent (“Does this make you feel big?”), sometimes the kid showed he simply didn’t care… Read more »
I saw quiet spanking a lot. My stories range from “my dad/mum abused the hell out of me”, “I got spanked a bit and was fine”, and “I never got spanked”. Interestingly enough some of the worst abuse wasn’t physical at all, the power of words can really fuck people up. A spank is better than telling a child they’re good for nothing for instance.
This study is bogus and very likely created to arrive at the desired conclusion.
All discipline causes pain, either physical or emotional. Clearly, emotional pain has as much or more potential for long term harm. Whatever discipline method is chosen, including time outs and the like, can be abusive.
We have talked a lot about spanking, but we’ve never done it. The way my wife and I see it, spanking is a nuclear option ultra consequence for a really major issue. We have talked, for example, about disciplining a child who has nearly run out into traffic. We’ve also discussed spanking with our five year old as a possible consequence for a behavior he continued doing despite a lot of other discipline (he was holding his two year old little sister and “hugging” her despite her screaming “no” at the top of her lungs). We had talked with our… Read more »
I was abused as a child, so I thought I would never spank my children. Nope. When my son was was little, he might get a swat to the butt if he engaged in a behavior that was really over the top or dangerous. It happened very rarely, but he did know there was a ‘nuclear deterant.’ Most of the time, I could verbally redirect him, esp. if the redirection was laced with humor. It was pretty effective. As he has gotten older, I’ve been able to reason things out with him. I think the last time he got spanked,… Read more »
I did get spanked occasionally as a kid, most often from my mother. I can remember a few times of us embroiled in an argument and I got up the gumption to talk back, but then immediately ran away with my hands covering my butt. It did not happen often, we had to really make her mad. On the spectrum of “abuse” to “punishment” her slaps probably skewed a bit more towards abuse if only because they were not measured or moderated but impulsive acts of anger. I have a vague memory involving a slap across the face, but honestly… Read more »
The article lists “grabbing” as one of those punishments. If they start to take off, I grab my kids any time we’re near a parking lot, street or pool. I think the disclaimers, “may be linked,” and “research suggests” are the most accurate parts of the article. Because that’s all you can draw from this kind of research. A linkage or correllation has been found. Certainly a causative relationship has not been proven. My kids get spanked very rarely, as in, it’s been months. And they seem less confused by it than by other forms of discipline. I never hear… Read more »
I was spanked. Mom tended to do it the “right way,” using an appropriate amount of pressure and not letting her anger get in the way of being a good mother. But when Dad got angry, we got to sit through about 10-20 minutes of screaming, and spankings ALWAYS left a mark. Even the threat of a spanking was enough to keep us in line, although it tended to ruin the mood of that fun family trip to the pizza place. My Dad was both a member of military special forces AND extremely type-A, so he spanked over more minor… Read more »
There is a difference between a light spank, and a flat out abuse. I support light spanking on the buttocks, just enough for someone to realize their behaviour is bad but I’d keep it more for when they do something dnagerous (playing with fire, etc). I’d try non-spanking methods first though, but it depends on what works. Spanking didn’t work on me, I’d laugh it off apparently. My cousin was immune to pain for some reason, I could punch him in the arm as hard as I could and he’d giggle? The most traumatic experiences for me weren’t painful, it… Read more »
I’m against spanking. I don’t think it’s necessary. And, it is problematic – confusing message for children and also many more research studies (than the one cited above) indicate it to be harmful. I wrote a bit more about my own thoughts on this topic here: http://judiciouse.blogspot.ca/2011/12/why-i-dont-spank-my-children.html
I’m glad to see the GMP picking up on this topic. cheers!
Spanking is one of those murky things in life. I am not fan because of the cognitive dissonance it causes children but we live in a world where hitting in the name of discipline is still accepted so I will let parents decide what they feel is appropriate.
I wouldn’t argue if it is right or wrong. I don’t like the words in most context. I prefer healthy and unhealthy. This study seems to support the latter. Let us see if more studies can confirm this. Then we as a society can adjust accordingly.
Thanks for sharing.
I was spanked as a younger child. I find it hard to relate to most of the negative portrayals of spanking that I encounter, because they seem to bear little relation to my childhood experience. Although I was spanked on many occasions, I can never once remember being spanked in anger. My parents were extremely angry with me on several occasions, but they committed themselves never to discipline me or my brothers without a calm temper and they really kept to that. The routine was very clear. They would take me to a private place, explain what they believed that… Read more »
For years, I thought that the way my father spanked was the way everyone else who spanked did it, and that Mom was unusually gentle. Mom: “Why did you do that?” “I–I don’t know…” “You need to think before you act. *spank* Now go and play, and don’t do that again.” Dad: “WHY DID YOU DO THAT?” “I–I don’t know.,..” “WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU DON’T KNOW? HOW STUPID ARE YOU? *WHACK* DON’T YOU EVER *WHACK* DO *WHACK* THAT *WHACK* AGAIN! YOU HEAR ME?” I don’t remember Mom ever being in the room when I was spanked though, so I… Read more »
I was spanked with a wooden spoon if I didn’t do x by the count of three, (and I never remember my mum doing it in anger)… I seriously doubt it did long term damage. If human beings were that delicate then we’d have died out long ago.
I do know people who were the victim of uncontrolled violence, but that’s rather different.