Interesting New Research on Spanking

A ground-breaking study examined whether the normativeness of physical
discipline moderates the link between mothers' use of physical
discipline and children's adjustment. The sample included 336
mother-child dyads from China, India, Italy, Kenya, the Philippines, and
Thailand.

Results revealed that "physical discipline was less strongly associated
with adverse child outcomes in conditions of greater perceived
normativeness, but physical discipline was also associated with more
adverse outcomes regardless of the perceived normativeness. Countries
with the lowest use of physical disciplined showed the strongest
association between mother's use and children's behavior problems, but
in all countries, higher use of physical discipline was associated with
more aggression and anxiety." (Lansford, et.al. 2005, 1234)

This is interesting because culture and what is considered the norm is
so often used as a justifier for physical discipline. This study
clearly shows that while the adverse effects of physical disipline were
less in countries where it was considered the norm, it was still
associated with adverse outcomes for children, including more anxiety
and aggresstion.

So I ask again -- why use physical discipline when yet another study
finds it to be harmful to children?

LaVonne

Reference:

Lansford, J., Dodge, K. & Malone, P., Bacchini, D., Zelli, A.,
Chaudhary, N., Manke, B., Chang, L., Oburu, P., Palmerus, K.,
Pastorelli, C., Bombi, A., Tapanya, S., Deater-Deckard, K., & Quinn, N.
(2005). Physical Discipline and Children's Adjustment: Cultural
Normativeness as a Moderator. Child Development, November/December
2005. 76(6), 1234-1246.