Should Parents' Physical Punishment of Children Be Considered a Source of Toxic Stress That Affects Brain Development?

Abstract

The notion that negative childhood experiences can be sources of toxic stress that have short‐ and long‐term consequences for children's health and well‐being has gained increasing attention in recent years. The family environment can be a key source of stress, particularly when parents inflict pain on children; when that pain rises to the level of physical abuse the stress is thought to be toxic. In this article the author considers the possibility that nonabusive physical punishment may also constitute a source of toxic stress in the lives of children that affects their brain structure and functioning. The research linking physical abuse and physical punishment to children's brain structure and functioning is summarized, and the article concludes with a discussion of implications for future research, policy, and practice.

Child physical punishment, parenting, and school readiness

“…Although the effects of harsh verbal punishment on child developmental outcomes remain understudied (Berlin et al, ) and more research is needed, our findings may indicate that harsh disciplinary practices, marked by both verbal and physical coercion, impede children's ability to perform on cognitively demanding tasks due to increased stress. This seems especially plausible considering other research highlighting the stressful nature of harsh parenting and its negative impact on brain development (Gershoff, ).…”

“…This moderating effect is important because PP tends to occur more frequently within such a disciplinary context, namely, a harsher and more punitive parenting context (Gámez-Guadix et al, 2010; Thompson et al, 1999;Wissow, 2001). Therefore, this study adds to an accumulating body of research demonstrating the potentially detrimental impact of physical discipline on young children's cognitive abilities (Berlin et al, 2009;Dyer et al, 2014;Gershoff, 2016;MacKenzie et al, 2012;Pettit et al, 1997). From a theoretical perspective, findings are also valuable in beginning to contextualize previous research linking PP with negative child cognitive and preacademic outcomes.…”

“…Moreover, a child's stress-response system may become overworked with chronic exposure to PP (Gershoff, 2016). This could interfere with brain development and disrupt basic cognitive processes (e.g., attention, concentration, memory, and executive functioning) necessary for adequate school functioning and performance (Bugental, Martorell, & Barraza, 2003;Gershoff, 2016). Given that PP has been linked with increased behavioural problems (Gershoff & Grogan-Kaylor, 2016), PP may further impede school readiness by undermining child self-regulatory skills, which could lead to difficulties in attending to various structured tasks.…”

“…For instance, studies have found that parental warmth mitigates the negative impact of PP on child externalizing behaviours (Alink et al, 2009;Deater-Deckard, Ivy, & Petrill, 2006;Germán, Gonzales, McClain, Dumka, & Millsap, 2013;McLoyd & Smith, 2002;Mendez, Durtschi, Neppl, & Stith, 2016). However, there is conflicting evidence in that several studies have suggested that PP combined with warmth is actually associated with increased behavioural problems (Lansford et al, 2014;Verhoeven, Junger, Van Aken, Deković, & Van Aken, 2010), perhaps because the child may view PP and warmth as irreconcilable and confusing parental behaviours (Gershoff, 2016). Within the realm of cognitive development, one study also found that emotional responsiveness did not mitigate the negative impact of PP on toddlers' cognitive test scores (Berlin et al, 2009).…”

“…Specifically, school readiness represents the status of a child's competencies (e.g., cognitive skills) measured prior to or at the moment of school entry (Snow, ). Given that PP has been shown to be stress inducing (Gershoff, ), it is possible it could hinder children's performance on cognitively demanding tasks, as well as their early learning ability more generally. Specifically, researchers have posited that a child's stress–response system may be activated in response to PP when it is experienced as distressing and is void of adequate adult support to manage this stress.…”