Spanked kids risk 'mental ailments as adults'

According to iAfrica.com Canadian researchers found that people who were hit or spanked as children face higher odds of mental ailments as adults, including mood and anxiety disorders and problems with alcohol and drug abuse. The study is the first to specifically examine the link between psychological problems and spanking.

2 Jul 2012

Experts said that, while the figures may seem low, particularly since about half of the US population recalls being spanked in childhood, they nevertheless show that physical punishment can raise the risk of problems later on. Victor Fornari, director of the division of child and adolescent psychiatry at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in New York, said that the study is valuable because it opens the conversation about parenting, iAfrica.com reports.

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