TORONTO - Spanking your kids to teach them a lesson could affect a child’s long-term development, Canadian researches warned parents Monday.
In a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, researchers say that disciplining your kids by using physical punishment could lead to long-lasting negative effects.
In the past two decades, the medical community’s collective evidence suggests kids who have experienced physical punishment were more likely to be aggressive toward parents, siblings and peers.
Later in life, they were more inclined to have antisocial behaviours and were even aggressive toward their spouses, Dr. Joan Durrant of the University of Manitoba wrote in her study.
The university collaborated with the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in their research. In a trial, the scientists advised parents in more than 500 [Canadian?] families to try to reduce their use of physical force when disciplining their children.
Results showed that overall, kids’ aggressive behaviour declined as their parents use of physical force declined.
“Results consistently suggest that physical punishment has a direct causal effect on externalizing behaviour, whether through a reflexive response to pain, modeling or coercive family processes,” the authors reported.
Physical punishment has also been linked to a variety of mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety and reliance on drugs and alcohol.
The researchers noted that previous studies also suggest that physical discipline might change areas in the brain linked to IQ tests.
The use of physical force has lessened in many countries, and has even been legally abolished.
Sweden was the first country in the world to introduce anti-spanking legislation, which was officiated in 1979.
In subsequent years, Finland, Norway and Austria followed in the Scandinavian country’s footsteps.
By 2009, about two dozen countries had a full ban in force regarding corporal punishment against kids.
The researchers urged physicians to offer parents other approaches to discipline.
“Physicians have a primary responsibility for translating research and evidence into guidance for parents and children because they are credible and influential voices for advancing public education and policy concerning population health,” the paper said.
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