Dave Bartkowiak Jr. From researchers:. Most research on how spanking affects children has involved studying families in high-income countries, such as the United States and Canada, but less was known about how spanking affects children in low- and middle-income countries—or developing countries.
Spanking is one of the most common forms of child discipline used by parents worldwide. The new international research used data collected by UNICEF in 62 countries—representing nearly one-third of the world's countries—and demonstrated that caregivers' reports of spanking were related to lower social development among , 3- and 4-year-old children.
A parent or caregiver was asked in person if the child gets along well with other children; if the child hits, kicks or bites others; and if the child gets distracted easily. The question about spanking concerned the physical discipline used within the last month with the child or their sibling.
One-third of the respondents indicated they believed physical punishment is necessary to bring up, raise or educate a child properly. Among the children studied, 43 percent were spanked, or resided in a home where another child was spanked.
A child's social development suffered in both cases in which he or she was spanked or during times when a sibling had been spanked, the study showed. Pace also noted that "reductions in corporal punishment might do a great deal to reduce the burden of children's mental health and improve child development outcomes globally.
