Use of Spanking for Young Children and Associated Aggression between Parents

Children are more likely to be spanked if they are raised in a household where their parents are aggressive or violent toward one another, according to a study published online by Pediatrics in August 2010.

According to the study, the use of spanking or corporal punishment is associated with harm to children yet is highly prevalent in the U.S. Two thousand families with 3-year-olds were observed for the purposes of the study, and 65 percent of those families had spanked their child on at least one occasion in the past month. Rather than focus on violent domestic abuse between parents, the study focused on psychologically controlling and violent behaviors, such as insulting a partner or preventing a partner from seeing friends and family. In families that reported these types of aggression, the use of spanking or corporal punishment was reported in one out of two homes.

The study concludes that even minor forms of aggression between parents are linked with increased odds of parents using spanking or corporal punishment with young children.
 

Read the report.