What’s the Data on How Spanking Impacts Children?

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Recently found out in a mom group I’m in that most of these parents have spanked their kids before, and I was a bit taken aback. Is spanking still common? I’m not doing anything wrong by NOT spanking, right? Is there data-driven evidence that shows the impacts on kids?

—Discipline Confusion

First, you are absolutely not doing anything wrong by not spanking. Let’s get that out of the way immediately. The fact that other parents in your mom group use spanking doesn’t mean it’s the right choice — or even the most effective one.

However, what you are encountering in your mom group isn’t unusual, even though spanking has become less common over time. Estimates suggest that at least half of American families still use spanking or other forms of mild corporal punishment to address misbehavior. Regional and cultural differences play a role here, too — some communities have higher rates than others.

Proponents of spanking often argue that it is a more effective discipline approach. This is not well supported in the data. There are a variety of options: programs like 1-2-3 Magic, the Incredible Years, and Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) have good randomized trial evidence showing they work to improve behavior. These consequence-based approaches use time-outs and removal of privileges, not physical punishment, and they’re effective.

Proponents of spanking often emphasize the same core principles that evidence-based programs do: consistency, not punishing in anger, and not yelling. The systems they describe sound similar to the consequence-based programs above, except the consequence is a spanking. The reality is that there is no evidence that physical punishment is more effective here.

In addition, there are significant concerns that physical punishment, including spanking, is associated with worse outcomes later in life. Children who are spanked show higher rates of behavioral problems, aggression, and mental health difficulties as they grow up.

Now, for people who advocate spanking, these data feel biased; they argue it’s correlation rather than causation, and that many of the behaviors classified as spanking in these studies go too far. They suggest that a better-structured approach to spanking wouldn’t have the same impacts. This is difficult to test directly with the data we have. But here’s the key point: even if you set aside the correlational evidence of harm, there’s still no evidence that spanking works better than approaches without physical punishment.

I have been upfront before about my biases here. I do not believe in physical punishment for children. For this reason, I would not spank my own children even if I believed it was more effective. But the data simply doesn’t show that.