Spanking and Child Outcomes: Old Controversies and New Meta-Analyses :: Something smarter than us is going to emerge

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..

http://news.utexas.edu/2016/04/25/risks-of-harm-from-spanking-confirmed-by-researchers
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2815860/2016-Spanking-and-Child-Outcomes-study.pdf

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