title: Spanking and child outcomes: Old controversies and new meta-analyses.
abstract: Whether spanking is helpful or harmful to children continues to be the source of considerable debate among both researchers and the public. This article addresses 2 persistent issues, namely whether effect sizes for spanking are distinct from those for physical abuse, and whether effect sizes for spanking are robust to study design differences. Meta-analyses focused specifically on spanking were conducted on a total of 111 unique effect sizes representing 160,927 children. Thirteen of 17 mean effect sizes were significantly different from zero and all indicated a link between spanking and increased risk for detrimental child outcomes. Effect sizes did not substantially differ between spanking and physical abuse or by study design characteristics. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas at Austin.
authors.forename: Elizabeth T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Gershoff
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of Michigan.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grogan-Kaylor
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D011678:Punishment / Q000523:psychology*; D012107:Research Design