Physical Punishment and Mental Disorders: Results From a Nationally Representative US Sample

Abstract

WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: Physical punishment is associated with aggression, delinquency, and internalizing conditions in childhood, as well as a range of Axis I mental disorders in adulthood. More research is needed on the possible long-term relationship between physical punishment and mental health.WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS: To our knowledge, this is the first nationally representative examination of physical punishment and a range of Axis I and II disorders, gender interactions, and proportion of mental disorders in the general population that may be attributable to physical punishment. abstract BACKGROUND: The use of physical punishment is controversial. Few studies have examined the relationship between physical punishment and a wide range of mental disorders in a nationally representative sample. The current research investigated the possible link between harsh physical punishment (ie, pushing, grabbing, shoving, slapping, hitting) in the absence of more severe child maltreatment (ie, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect, exposure to intimate partner violence) and Axis I and II mental disorders. RESULTS: Harsh physical punishment was associated with increased odds of mood disorders, anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug abuse/ dependence, and several personality disorders after adjusting for sociodemographic variables and family history of dysfunction (adjusted odds ratio: 1.36-2.46). Approximately 2% to 5% of Axis I disorders and 4% to 7% of Axis II disorders were attributable to harsh physical punishment. METHODS:CONCLUSIONS: Harsh physical punishment in the absence of child maltreatment is associated with mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance abuse/dependence, and personality disorders in a general population sample. These findings inform the ongoing debate around the use of physical punishment and provide evidence that harsh physical punishment independent of child maltreatment is related to mental disorders.

The Prevalence of Physical and Psychological Abuse and its Correlation with Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms among Students

“…The distribution of physical and psychological abuses of the sample is summarized in Table 1. Similar to our results, the results of other studies have also shown a correlation between various types of violence and psychological distress, depression (12)(13)(14)(15), anxiety (16)(17)(18)(19)(20), and depression and anxiety (5,(21)(22)(23).…”

Corporal Punishment of Children in the Jamaican Context

“…Furthermore, they have pointed to research (e.g., Afifi, Mota, Dasiewicz, MacMillan, & Sareen, 2012;Gershoff, 2002;Lansford et al, 2007;Middlebrooks & Audage, 2008;Widom, Marmorstein, & White, 2006) indicating that serious psychosocial problems in children are invariably preceded by exposure to violence, particularly corporal punishment. For example, Professor Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, author of the UN's Global Report on Children and Violence, in an address to the Jamaican parliament warned that, "In an environment where violence breeds more violence, the ways in which Jamaican children are subjected to violence are inextricably linked to the unrelenting levels of crime and violence affecting the island" (Niles, 2008, para.…”

“…Compared to the control group, children who were physically punished were one and a half times more likely to use illicit drugs and have drug related problems in adulthood (Widom et al, 2006). Also, child victims of corporal punishment were found to be at greater risk for dropping out of high school, teen parenthood, being arrested as juveniles (Lansford et al, 2007), interpersonal aggression, low self-esteem, and suicidal behaviors and other psychiatric disorders (Afifi et al, 2012;Harford et al, 2014;Middlebrooks & Audage, 2008;Smith, Springer, & Barrett, 2011). In a study by Felson and Lane (2009), inmates who reported experiencing childhood physical abuse (inmates' subjective assessment of abuse) were more likely to commit violent offenses, such as homicide, robbery, and sexual assault, than nonviolent offenses.…”

Attitude of Youth towards Corporal Punishment – A Case of Karachi

“…The results show increase in aggression, violent behavior and emotionally impairment among children. A mega study was conducted which also share that it develop mental illness and affect developmental areas (Talwar, 2011 andAfifi, 2012). One of the authors evaluated various global researches on the effect of corporal punishment on children and concluded that it highly affect children psychologically for long term (Dorpat, 2007).…”