Eine neue Studie untersucht die seit langem diskutierten Auswirkungen von Prügelstrafen auf die Entwicklung von Kindern | Die Forscher fanden heraus, dass Prügelstrafen weniger als 1 % der Veränderungen in den kindlichen Ergebnissen erklärten. Dies deutet darauf hin, dass die negativen Auswirkungen möglicherweise überbewertet werden.
Does spanking harm child development? Major study challenges common beliefs
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That’s quite surprising, given the previous results. Was the study peer-reviewed?
Does this study also assume parents who spank don’t use other methods of physical abuse, such as slapping, punching, hair pulling, hairbrushes, shoving into objects, etc.?
Because the constant threat of physical and emotional violence until we leave the household keeps us small out of fear.
If it makes less than 1% difference, then perhaps assaulting people rather than speaking to them isn’t as necessary as _those_ people have always argued.
My understanding of this article is arbitrary punishment (“punishment from meanness”) is what causes negative outcomes rather than the form of the punishment.
The bit about the “back-up swats” reads like the consistency of consequences lead to better results. They didn’t test the back-up swats against other forms of discipline as far as I can see.
I think its more of a moral issue. Is it acceptable to physically assault a kid as a punishment? Imo its less acceptable than assaulting fully grown adult.
I will always default to does the child understand words and logic? If so, use them. If not, they won’t understand why you’re causing them pain, so spanking is inappropriate.
Which leaves spanking as a non-option.
So physically abusing defenseless children provides no benefit to the child. Got it.
> In randomized controlled trials, back-up spanking was shown to be significantly more effective than allowing children to leave time-out without consequences.
Doing something is more effective than doing nothing at all! Groundbreaking!
My step dad used the buckled side of a belt till I was 4 and my stepbrother was born. He lightened up and used fists and open hands after that.
I’m sure this study would please him.
But it’s not all bad. I was hard to beat up growing up. Cuz kids don’t hit as hard as adults!
I must say the gaslighting from my mother I remember to this day and has very big impact on about everything in my life. The minor spank once in a while i forgot about until i saw this article. That being said. Spanking for me is: flat hand, max. 3 to 4 slaps with open hand on the butt cheeks (which are not nude!) or a slap on the back of the head. Everything else i don’t consider spanking and is not about correcting behavior but about a frustration relief or powerplay from the adult and thus abuse.
You can raise kids perfectly fine without hitting them so the question is ‘what is with the obsession with hitting them?’
>This suggests that its negative effects may be overstated.
That is a bizarrely opposite conclusion a rational person should come to. If the study can’t find a difference in outcomes, maybe the *benefits* are overstated, and we should try to restrain ourselves from hitting out children instead of embracing the practice?
I mean even if it had a positive effect physically abusing people is wrong, including when that person is too small and defenceless to do anything about it
This is the scientific version of “my parents hit me and I turned out just fine”
Hitting kids is never ok. I don’t care why, it’s just wrong.
Look at the social power/size differences between parents and children. That’s trauma causing from my perspective.
There are much, much better ways to discipline kids.
Just from reading the title – wouldnt this also mean that its not an effective form of punishment/teaching?
Positive-reinforcement training works better than painful punishment when we train *animals*, but people are still really attached to the idea of hitting their kids being ok, huh?
This isn’t quite “junk science” but it is getting close.
The small effect size might seem …. small, but is still a finding of harm that is consistent with other research, and can still be meaningful. And more importantly it is a finding of harm and not good.
And that is with them using ANCOVA and slope analyses, which are both known for biases. Also, they totally leave out potential confounders like child temperament and reverse causality.
I think the big issue here is that the authors have a background in “family studies,” with a history of defending spanking. Their expertise is narrow and would benefit from collaborations with real statisticians or epidemiologists.
I’ve only hit one child as an adult and he was biting me.
There’s no need to ever intentionally hit a child.
I can get my dog to go up stairs backwards and he doesn’t speak. He backed up on to my bed yesterday, as in hopped up backwards onto my bed.
I don’t hit him, either. Well, there was the time, the third time, he bit me in the balls as a puppy. That involved a conversation using feet, but that’s different. Children don’t, hopefully, bite anyone in the balls.
It’s not whether or not it’s negative. It’s that it’s completely ***unnecessary***, as this study shows.
We know how to motivate children without hitting them. It’s through extreme consistency, mixed with positive and negative reinforcements. You only need to put them in a situation they do not want. You don’t have to hit them. FFS
You are the parent. If they act out when they don’t get something, that’s because acting out is what got them something in the past. You have to ignore that and they will stop. They aren’t nearly as stupid as too many think.
There actually are manuals on how to bring up a good kid. The “What to expect” series of books are amazing, for example.
There are exceptions, of course, but they are quite rare (it’s not you).
My parents never spanked me
But they had inconsistent rules, scared my friends to the point they avoided my house, legit EVERYONE thought I was abused growing up
Technically all they did was “scream” at me but I never knew what would trigger it, I never knew how bad it was gonna be
Like one time my then boyfriend (now husband) said “hello” without a hug and my dad drove to my house and screamed at me in the middle of the street about ruining thanksgiving
I would’ve preferred a spanking and consistency over the hell that is my parents’ method
Doesn’t help I’m autistic so I genuinely had NO IDEA what would anger them and I became a nervous wreck of a person
If a study showed a less than 1% change to outcome if your child acts up and you cut off one of his fingertips with bolt cutters in response I wouldn’t advocate for that either.
This honestly sounds like they just wanted to justify spanking. Like they found that in very narrow circumstances it “wasn’t that bad”. Still doesn’t mean it’s the best way to correct behavior. Lots of other research shows better ways to correct behavior. I recommend the book “the whole brain child” for anyone interested in child behavior and parenting.
Spanking gets lumped in with abusive spanking.
A rare pop on the butt won’t destroy your kid.
Weekly whoopings probably does.