ReviewLancet (London, England)2021
Physical punishment and child outcomes: a narrative review of prospective studies.
Review in Lancet (London, England), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
52 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 208 citations in OpenAlex.
- Physical punishment and lifelong outcomes in low‑ and middle‑income countries: a systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis.Nature human behaviour · 2025Pooled it
- Harsh Physical Discipline and Externalizing Behaviors in Children: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Effectiveness Evaluation of a Violence Prevention Parenting Program Implemented at Large Scale: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Psychosocial intervention · 2025Trial
- Association of physical punishment and health outcomes in early childhood: a population representative prospective study.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Prevalence and factors associated with psychological aggression and physical punishment among children aged 12 to 59 months in Malaysia: findings from the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2022.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Parental violent discipline and adolescent health: is there a different effect when one or both parents are involved?European journal of public health · 2026Article
- Physical aggression toward parents from ages 11 to 24: prevalence trajectory and risk and protective factors.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- Maternal Use of Physical Discipline and Children's Externalizing Problems Across Childhood in Singapore.Family process · 2026Article
- Prevalence of physical abuse by caregivers toward infants aged 0-24 months: a systematic review and meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2026Article
- Majority country methods for developmental psychology: Evidence and insights from diverse global settings.Developmental psychology · 2026Article
- Physical Punishment in Childhood and Adolescence: Related Factors and Outcomes.Journal of child & adolescent trauma · 2025Article
- Gendered Attitudes Toward Corporal Punishment: Implications for Prevention of Mental Health Problems in Youth.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
- Ending the practice of corporal punishment in Nigeria: a call for progress and dignity.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2025Review
- Article
- Legal Banning of Disciplinary Spanking in Canada: Evidence and Human Rights - a Response to Gunnoe and Colleagues.Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry = Journal de l'Academie canadienne de psychiatrie de l'enfant et de l'adolescent · 2025Article
- An update on the scientific evidenceJournal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry = Journal de l'Academie canadienne de psychiatrie de l'enfant et de l'adolescent · 2025Article
- Parental wellbeing, parenting, and child mental health in families with young children in Arghakhanchi, Nepal.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- More than a feeling: A global economic valuation of subjective wellbeing damages resulting from rising temperatures.PloS one · 2025Article
- Straight from foster care to the youth detention center? The (mis)paths of child protection and juvenile justice policies in the construction of violent masculinities.Frontiers in sociology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Physical punishment is increasingly viewed as a form of violence that harms children. This narrative review summarises the findings of 69 prospective longitudinal studies to inform practitioners and policy makers about physical punishment's outcomes. Our review identified seven key themes. First, physical punishment consistently predicts increases in child behaviour problems over time. Second, physical punishment is not associated with positive outcomes over time. Third, physical punishment increases the risk of involvement with child protective services. Fourth, the only evidence of children eliciting physical punishment is for externalising behaviour. Fifth, physical punishment predicts worsening behaviour over time in quasi-experimental studies. Sixth, associations between physical punishment and detrimental child outcomes are robust across child and parent characteristics. Finally, there is some evidence of a dose-response relationship. The consistency of these findings indicates that physical punishment is harmful to children and that policy remedies are warranted.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.