New Delhi– Physically punishing children, including spanking, smacking, or shaking, is associated with a wide range of negative outcomes—including lower academic achievement, impaired social-emotional development, and poorer physical and mental health—according to a comprehensive new study published in Nature Human Behaviour.
Researchers from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development analyzed 195 studies conducted between 2002 and 2024. The data spanned 92 low- and middle-income countries and examined 19 different developmental outcomes. The findings revealed that corporal punishment is consistently linked to harmful effects on children, with no evidence of any positive benefits.
“Physical punishment was significantly associated with a host of negative outcomes,” said lead author Jorge Cuartas, Assistant Professor of Applied Psychology at NYU. “These include worse parent-child relationships, increased risk of being a victim or perpetrator of violence—including intimate partner violence in adulthood—mental health issues, substance abuse, sleep disturbances, and impaired cognitive and language development.”
Additional consequences included reduced academic performance, impaired executive functioning, and deficits in social-emotional and behavioral skills. Children subjected to physical punishment were also more likely to suffer from internalizing behaviors, such as depression and social withdrawal, and externalizing behaviors, like aggression and destructiveness.
Cuartas emphasized the consistency and universality of these effects: “The strength of the findings across diverse countries and cultures underscores that physical punishment is universally harmful to children and adolescents. There is an urgent need for global strategies to eliminate physical punishment and protect children from all forms of violence.”
The study also cited earlier international efforts to curb corporal punishment. In 2006, the United Nations Secretary-General called for a global ban on all forms of physical punishment against children. Since then, 65 countries—mostly high-income nations with gross national incomes above $14,000 per capita—have implemented full or partial bans.
Despite growing awareness and legal progress, the practice remains widespread in many parts of the world. The researchers called for increased investment in education, awareness campaigns, and policy reform to protect children’s rights and promote their healthy development. (Source: IANS)
