Spare the rod and spoil the child. Is this a sensible justification for the use of punishment in child rearing?

Early Determinants of Maternal and Paternal Harsh Discipline: The Generation R Study

“…Because of the harmful consequences of harsh discipline (Lansford et al, 2005;MacMillan et al, 1999;McLoyd & Smith, 2002;Solomon & Serres, 1999;Teicher et al, 2006;Vostanis et al, 2006) and the link between harsh discipline and child maltreatment (Carey, 1994;Fontes, 2005), the prevention of it is an important public health goal (World Health Organization and International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, 2006). Moreover, the high prevalence of harsh disciplining tactics contributes to the clinical relevance of studies on this topic.…”

“…Children who experienced harsh discipline have an increased risk of emotional and behavioral problems and lifetime psychiatric disorders, even if the harsh punishments occurred infrequently (Lansford et al, 2005;MacMillan et al, 1999;McLoyd & Smith, 2002;Prinzie, Onghena, & Hellinckx, 2006;Taylor, Manganello, Lee, & Rice, 2010;Teicher, Samson, Polcari, & McGreenery, 2006;Vostanis et al, 2006). Furthermore, although the difference between harsh discipline and child abuse is somewhat indistinct (Whipple & Richey, 1997), there seems to be a risk that the use of harsh discipline strategies evolves into child maltreatment over time (Carey, 1994;Fontes, 2005). These effects of harsh discipline appear to be independent of preexisting child behavioral problems (Larzelere, 2000;Taylor, Manganello, et al, 2010) but vary by ethnicity and cultural norms (Lansford et al, 2005;Lansford, Deater-Deckard, Dodge, Bates, & Pettit, 2004).…”

“…Second, harsh disciplining behaviors like yelling, threatening, and hitting are relatively common among parents of infants and toddlers in Western countries (McLoyd & Smith, 2002;Nobes, Smith, Upton, & Heverin, 1999;Straus & Field, 2003;Straus & Stewart, 1999). Furthermore, although the difference between harsh discipline and child abuse is somewhat indistinct (Whipple & Richey, 1997), there seems to be a risk that the use of harsh discipline strategies evolves into child maltreatment over time (Carey, 1994;Fontes, 2005).…”

Decreasing Harsh Discipline in Mothers at Risk for Maltreatment: A Randomized Control Trial

“…It has been shown that psychological stress embedded in the context of the ongoing challenges and threats of economic hardship is related to greater use of harsh discipline (Ricketts & Anderson, 2008), which in turn has been linked to a variety of deleterious child outcomes (Gershoff, 2002). In addition, some evidence has suggested that harsh parenting may develop into child maltreatment in the long run (Carey, 1994;Fontes, 2005;Straus & Field, 2003). Therefore, the development of preventive interventions aimed at improving parenting in economically deprived families is very important to the protection of children (Jansen et al, 2012;Lundahl, Nimer, & Parsons, 2006).…”

“…Thus, attachment theory and coercion theory both emphasize the importance of positive, contingent, and nonaggressive parent-child interactions (Van Zeijl et al, 2006). In addition, there is often a risk that the less severe forms of harsh parenting evolve into the more severe ones (Carey, 1994;Fontes, 2005;Straus & Field, 2003). This pattern may start very early in life as an increased need for autonomy and growing resistance to parental control occurs during late infancy and toddlerhood, increasing the likelihood of angry and negatively controlling discipline tactics by parents who do not have sufficient alternative strategies (Aber, Belsky, Slade, & Crnic, 1999;Kim, Pears, Fisher, Connelly, & Landsverk, 2010).…”