Spanking in early childhood
and later behavior problems
Jennifer Hahn
Spanking prior to age 2 is correlated with behavior problems at
school age. This was the primary finding in a study done by researchers
at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health utilizing data from the
National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Mother-Child sample.
Children under the age of two (N
= 1,966) were followed up about four years later when they entered
school. Frequency of spanking was assessed through mothers’
reports and was limited to spanking by mother only (not father).
Children were considered to have behavior problems if their mothers
reported high levels of behavior problems and/or if the mother
had to meet with a school official to discuss her child’s
behavioral problems.
The researchers found that children
who were spanked more frequently when under the age of 2 were
more likely to have behavior problems after they entered school.
Interestingly, this was only found among white (n =1,023) children.
There was not a significant, consistent association between early
spanking and behavior problems among African-American (n = 548)
or Hispanic children (n = 395).
Characteristics of white mothers
who spanked their child more frequently were depression, lower
income and less education. These characteristics were not found
in African-American and Hispanic mothers who spanked their children
more frequently.
Slade, E. P., & Wissow, L.
S., May 2004, Spanking in early childhood and later behavior problems:
A prospective study of infants and young toddlers. Pediatrics,
113, 1321-1330.
© Jennifer Hahn
NFO contributor Dr. Jennifer Hahn
is the editor of The
Thinking Parent, a quarterly publication reviewing research
of interest to parents: child development and parenting, pregnancy
and childbirth, physical health, mental health and education.
With more than 12 years of experience in research at the Johns
Hopkins School of Medicine, Dr. Hahn received her Ph.D. from the
University of Maryland Baltimore County and completed her residency
at the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center. She is the
mother of two daughters.
