Thread by @_anjaheilmann

Today in @TheLancet, our narrative review on #physicalpunishment & impact on children.

TL:DR: physical punishment does not work, increases behaviour difficulties and causes harm.

Thread🧵

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We identified nearly 4k studies from around the world and reviewed the 69 highest quality studies to understand the impact of so-called "normative" physical punishment (spanking, smacking, hitting) which is still legal in many countries.

Key findings 👇

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Physical punishment does not improve children's behaviour but instead increases difficulties like aggression and antisocial behaviours. Increases in behavioural difficulties are NOT explained by high levels of baseline aggression in children who are physically punished.

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Physical punishment has NO benefits for children, including any relating to mental health (anxiety, depression), attention, cognitive abilities, relationship with others or social competence.

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These findings were the same no matter a child's sex, ethnicity, and overall parenting style (i.e. parental warmth did not protect from the harms of physical punishment).

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Several studies reported a dose-response relationship, where increasing frequency of physical punishment also saw increases in detrimental child outcomes over time.

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We conclude that physical punishment is both ineffective and harmful. These findings are in line with previous reviews / meta-analyses, e.g.:
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12081081/

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

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Physical punishment violates children's human rights. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that all children should grow up free from all forms of violence including physical punishment.
endcorporalpunishment.org/human-rights-l…

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So far, physical punishment is prohibited in 62 countries, including in Scotland and Wales. England is yet to follow meaning children across the UK are subject to different laws around physical punishment.
endcorporalpunishment.org/countdown/

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Our findings throw support at the UNCRC's call for all countries to prohibit all forms of physical punishment and give children the same protection from violence that adults have.

#EndCorporalPunishment
#equalprotection

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See the full article here (free to access until 17th August and no need to register) sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

and more in this blog: childofourtimeblog.org.uk/2021/06/there-…

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This has been a team effort together with wonderful colleagues @AnitaMehay, Richard Watt, @YvonneJKelly, Joan Durrant, @JillianvT and @LizGershoff

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