New Study Suggests Spanking Hurts Future Mental Health

A new study suggests that spanking children can lead to a higher risk of adult mental illness.

Earlier this year we reported that another study indicated that spanking wasn’t terribly effective as a means of punishment; a new study suggests that it is actually detrimental.

According to Newser, the study reviewed government data on 35,000 adults in the United States, and found that 2-7% of adult mental disorders are associated with the corporal punishment of children.

Tracie Afifi, assistant professor of epidemiology in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba in Canada and lead author of the study, noted that this is the first study to link non-abusive physical punishment to mental health disorders, according to USA Today. In Afifi’s words, “there is a significant link between the two…Individuals who are physically punished have an increased likelihood of having mental health disorders.”

She added that “we’re confident of the reliability of our data, and the data strongly indicate that physical punishment should not be used on children — at any age. And it’s important for parents to be aware of that.”

Still, some argue that spanking can be used appropriately. According to Robert Larzelere, a psychologist at the University of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, “overly severe physical punishment is going to have adverse effects on children…But for younger kids, if spanking is used in the most appropriate way and the child perceives it as being motivated by concern for their behavior and welfare, then I don’t think it has a detrimental effect.”

A 2005 study co-authored by Larzelere argued that spanking could be used properly as a sort of last resort. Of Afifi’s study, Larzelere criticized its reliance on adults’ memories of their childhood. Additionally, he suggested that “it does nothing to move beyond correlations to figure out what is actually causing the mental health problems…The motivation that the child perceives and when and how and why the parent uses (spanking) makes a big difference. All of that is more important than whether it was used or not.”