ArticleChild abuse & neglect2017
Spanking and adult mental health impairment: The case for the designation of spanking as an adverse childhood experience.
Article in Child abuse & neglect, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 73 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
73 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 236 citations in OpenAlex.
- Corporal punishment and violent behavior spectrum: a meta-analytic review.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Pooled it
- Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and medically traumatic events (TEs) in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer: a report from the Promoting Resilience in Stress Management (PRISM) randomized controlled trial.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2021Trial
- The association between elder abuse and childhood adversity: A study of older adults in Malaysia.PloS one · 2021Trial
- Parents' PTSD symptoms and child abuse potential during the perinatal period: Direct associations and mediation via relationship conflict.Child abuse & neglect · 2019Trial
- Exploring Factors Associated With Self-Reported Parental Spanking and Hitting Out of Anger: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analyses Using National Panel Data.Family process · 2026Article
- Two-year outcomes and feedback after a parenting assessment is integrated into primary care.BMJ case reports · 2026Article
- A Snapshot of Clinical Psychology Trainees' Exposure to Parenting Approaches and Attitudes Toward Child Rights.Clinical child psychology and psychiatry · 2026Article
- Maternal childhood sexual abuse and perpetration of neglect: Exploring risk factors.Child abuse & neglect · 2026Article
- Pre-post differences in outcomes associated with participation in theFrontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- SERES: La Paz Empieza en Casa-Evaluation of an Intervention Program to Reduce Corporal Punishment and Parenting Stress, and to Enhance Positive Parenting Among Colombian Parents.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2025Article
- Sexual identity, child maltreatment, mental health, and substance use among emerging adults aged 18 to 23 years.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2025Article
- An Intergenerational Exploration of Discipline, Attachment, and Black Mother-Daughter Relationships Across the Lifespan.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The epidemiology and burden of ten mental disorders in countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), 1990-2021: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.The Lancet. Public health · 2025Article
- Spanking and Children's Approaches to Learning: Estimates from a Longitudinal Matched-Sample Design.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Approval of Parent-Child Aggression as a Mediator of Intergenerational Child Abuse Risk: An Evaluation of Racial Differences.Journal of family violence · 2025Article
- Parenting Interventions to Prevent and Reduce Physical Punishment: A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- An Examination of Underlying Domains in Childhood Adversity: A Scoping Review of Studies Conducting Factor Analyses on Adverse Childhood Experiences.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Integrating a Parenting Assessment into Practice: Pediatric Providers' Time and Perspectives.Maternal and child health journal · 2024Article
- ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES AND SEXUAL RISK BEHAVIOUR IN STUDENTS OF A TERTIARY INSTITUTION IN SOUTHWEST NIGERIA.Annals of Ibadan postgraduate medicine · 2024Article
- Does biological age mediate the relationship between childhood adversity and depression? Insights from the Detroit Neighborhood Health Study.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2024Article
13 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 8 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) such as child abuse are related to poor health outcomes. Spanking has indicated a similar association with health outcomes, but to date has not been considered an ACE. Physical and emotional abuse have been shown in previous research to correlate highly and may be similar in nature to spanking. To determine if spanking should be considered an ACE, this study aimed to examine 1): the grouping of spanking with physical and emotional abuse; and 2) if spanking has similar associations with poor adult health problems and accounts for additional model variance. Adult mental health problems included depressive affect, suicide attempts, moderate to heavy drinking, and street drug use. Data were from the CDC-Kaiser ACE study (N=8316, response rate=65%). Spanking loaded on the same factor as the physical and emotional abuse items. Additionally, spanking was associated with increased odds of suicide attempts (Adjusted Odds Ratios (AOR)=1.37; 95% CI=1.02 to1.86), moderate to heavy drinking (AOR)=1.23; 95% CI=1.07 to 1.41), and the use of street drugs (AOR)=1.32; 95% CI=1.4 to 1.52) in adulthood over and above experiencing physical and emotional abuse. This indicates spanking accounts for additional model variance and improves our understanding of these outcomes. Thus, spanking is empirically similar to physical and emotional abuse and including spanking with abuse adds to our understanding of these mental health problems. Spanking should also be considered an ACE and addressed in efforts to prevent violence.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.