Children who are spanked frequently are more likely to be aggressive and have mental health problems, among other things, a new University of Texas at Austin and University of Michigan study revealed.
Kids who are spanked more often have also been linked to anti-social behavior, the report, which is based on 50 years of research, revealed.
“The upshot of the study is that spanking increases the likelihood of a wide variety of undesired outcomes for children. Spanking thus does the opposite of what parents usually want it to do,” Andrew Grogan-Kaylor, a co-author, said in a statement.
The children who are spanked more often are also likely to use physical punishment while disciplining their own kids, the study found. Spanking more often resulted in “unintended detrimental outcomes” rather than “immediate or long-term compliance,” Texas professor Elizabeth Gershoff said in a news release.
About 80 percent of parents globally spank their kids, a 2014 UNICEF report found.
