Spanking in early childhood and later behavior problems
Jennifer Hahn
Spanking prior to age 2 is correlated with behavior problems at school age. This was the primary finding in a study done by researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health utilizing data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Mother-Child sample.
Children under the age of two (N = 1,966) were followed up about four years later when they entered school. Frequency of spanking was assessed through mothers’ reports and was limited to spanking by mother only (not father). Children were considered to have behavior problems if their mothers reported high levels of behavior problems and/or if the mother had to meet with a school official to discuss her child’s behavioral problems.
The researchers found that children who were spanked more frequently when under the age of 2 were more likely to have behavior problems after they entered school. Interestingly, this was only found among white (n =1,023) children. There was not a significant, consistent association between early spanking and behavior problems among African-American (n = 548) or Hispanic children (n = 395).
Characteristics of white mothers who spanked their child more frequently were depression, lower income and less education. These characteristics were not found in African-American and Hispanic mothers who spanked their children more frequently.
Slade, E. P., & Wissow, L. S., May 2004, Spanking in early childhood and later behavior problems: A prospective study of infants and young toddlers. Pediatrics, 113, 1321-1330.
© Jennifer Hahn
NFO contributor Dr. Jennifer Hahn is the editor of The Thinking Parent, a quarterly publication reviewing research of interest to parents: child development and parenting, pregnancy and childbirth, physical health, mental health and education. With more than 12 years of experience in research at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Dr. Hahn received her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and completed her residency at the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center. She is the mother of two daughters.
