Global study Confirms: physical Punishment Harms Children Everywhere
A new analysis published in Nature Human Behavior confirms that physically punishing children – including smacking, shaking, and spanking – has consistently negative outcomes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), mirroring findings from wealthier nations. Teh research, encompassing 195 studies across 92 LMICs, reinforces the call for a global ban on corporal punishment, initially made by the United Nations Secretary-General in 2006. Currently, 65 countries have implemented either full or partial bans, largely concentrated in high-income nations.
Lead author Jorge Cuartas, assistant professor at NYU Steinhardt, addressed the question of whether cultural norms might mitigate the harm of physical punishment in countries where it’s more common. “However, the lack of data from low- and middle-income countries has made it challenging to fully understand the balance between global and context-specific harms of physical punishment during childhood.”
The study examined 19 potential outcomes of corporal punishment, revealing significant negative associations in 16 areas. These included: damaged parent-child relationships, increased risk of violence (both as a victim and perpetrator, including intimate partner violence in adulthood), acceptance of violence, physical and mental health problems, substance use, poorer academic performance, impaired cognitive and social-emotional skills, behavioral issues, and disrupted sleep. No positive effects were identified,and the research found no impact on cognitive skills,motor skills,or child labor.
“The consistency and strength of these findings suggest that physical punishment is universally harmful to children and adolescents,” states Cuartas. “Moving forward, more research is needed to identify effective strategies for preventing physical punishment on a global scale and ensuring that children are protected from all forms of violence to support their healthy growth.”
The research was conducted by a team including Elizabeth T. Gershoff (University of Texas at Austin), Drew H. Bailey (University of California, Irvine), Maria Alejandra Gutiérrez (Yale University), and Dana C. McCoy (Harvard University).Funding was provided by the National Academy of Education/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship,the American Psychological Foundation,the Society for Research in Child Development,and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P2CHD042849).