Forms of Spanking and Children's Externalizing Behaviors

Family Relations

Volumn 61, Issue 2, 2012, Pages 224-236

  Lansford, Jennifer E ^a   Wager, Laura B ^b   Bates, John E ^c   Pettit, Gregory S ^d   Dodge, Kenneth A ^a  

^a DUKE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL CENTER   (United States)

^c INDIANA UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^d AUBURN UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Child aggression; Corporal punishment; Externalizing behavior; Parental discipline; Spanking

Indexed keywords

EID: 84858245020     PISSN: 01976664     EISSN: 17413729     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1741-3729.2011.00700.x     Document Type: Article

References (64)

1. Achenbach, T. M., & Edelbrock, C. S. (1983). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist and revised Child Behavior Profile. Burlington, VT: Queen City Printers.
2. Achenbach, T. M., & Edelbrock, C. S. (1986). Manual for the Teacher's Report Form and Teacher Version of the Child Behavior Profile. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont.
3. Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. A. (2001). Manual for the ASEBA School-Age Forms & Profiles. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, & Families.
4. Anderson, K. E., Lytton, H., & Romney, D. M. (1986). Mothers' interactions with normal and conduct-disordered boys: Who affects whom? Developmental Psychology, 22, 604-609.
5. Arseneault, L., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Taylor, A., Rijsdijk, F. V., Jaffee, S. R., Ablow, J. C., & Measelle, J. R. (2003). Strong genetic effects on cross-situational antisocial behaviour among 5-year-old children according to mothers, teachers, examiner-observers, and twins' self-reports. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 44, 832-848.
6. Barkley, R. A. (2000). Taking charge of ADHD: The complete, authoritative guide for parents. New York: Guilford.
7. Baumrind, D. (1997). The discipline encounter: Contemporary issues. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 2, 321-335.
8. Baumrind, D., Larzelere, R. E., & Cowan, P. A. (2002). Ordinary physical punishment: Is it harmful? Comment on Gershoff (2002). Psychological Bulletin, 128, 580-589.
9. Beauchaine, T. P., Webster-Stratton, C., & Reid, M. J. (2005). Mediators, moderators, and predictors of 1-year outcomes among children treated for early-onset conduct problems: A latent growth curve analysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 371-388.
10. Bell, R. Q. (1979). Parent, child, and reciprocal influences. American Psychologist, 34, 821-826.
11. Burt, S. A., McGue, M., Krueger, R. F., & Iacono, W. G. (2005). How are parent-child conflict and childhood externalizing symptoms related over time? Results from a genetically informative cross-lagged study. Development and Psychopathology, 17, 145-165.
12. Burt, S. A., McGue, M., Krueger, R. F., & Iacono, W. G. (2007). Environmental contributions to adolescent delinquency: A fresh look at the shared environment. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 35, 787-800.
13. Child Trends. (2009). Attitudes towards spanking. Retrieved from
14. Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
15. Deater-Deckard, K., Dodge, K. A., Bates, J. E., & Pettit, G. S. (1996). Physical discipline among African American and European American mothers: Links to children's externalizing behaviors. Developmental Psychology, 32, 1065-1072.
16. Dietrich, K. N., Ris, M. D., Succop, P. A., Berger, O. G., & Bornschein, R. L. (2001). Early exposure to lead and juvenile delinquency. Neurotoxicology and Teratology, 23, 511-518.
17. Dodge, K. A., Bates, J. E., & Pettit, G. S. (1990). Mechanisms in the cycle of violence. Science, 250, 1678-1683.
18. Dodge, K. A., Coie, J. D., & Lynam, D. (2006). Aggression and antisocial behavior in youth. In W. Damon (Series Ed.) & N. Eisenberg (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of child psychology, Vol. 3: Social, emotional, and personality development (6th ed., pp. 719-988). New York: Wiley.
19. Flynn, C. P. (1994). Regional differences in attitudes toward corporal punishment. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 56, 314-324.
20. Galambos, N. L., Barker, E. T., & Almeida, D. M. (2003). Parents do matter: Trajectories of change in externalizing and internalizing problems in early adolescence. Child Development, 74, 578-594.
21. Gershoff, E. T. (2002). Corporal punishment by parents and associated child behaviors and experiences: A meta-analytic and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 539-579.
22. Gershoff, E. T., Lansford, J. E., Sexton, H. R., Davis-Kean, P., & Sameroff, A. (2011). Longitudinal links between spanking and children's externalizing behaviors in a national sample of White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian American families. Child Development, 82, 2138-2143.
23. Graziano, A. M., & Namaste, K. A. (1990). Parental use of physical force in child discipline: A survey of 679 college students. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 5, 449-463.
24. Harris, J. R. (1998). The nurture assumption. New York: Free Press.
25. Heffer, R. W., & Kelley, M. L. (1987). Mothers' acceptance of behavioral interventions for children: The influence of parent race and income. Behavior Therapy, 2, 153-163.
26. Hicks, B. M., Krueger, R. F., Iacono, W. G., McGue, M., & Patrick, C. J. (2004). Family transmission and heritability of externalizing disorders: A twin-family study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 61, 922-928.
27. Hollingshead, A. B. (1979). The Hollingshead four-factor index of socioeconomic status. Unpublished manuscript, Yale University, New Haven, CT.
28. Jones, P., & Welch, S. (2010). Rethinking children's rights: Attitudes in contemporary society. London: Continuum.
29. Knutson, J. F., & Selner, M. B. (1994). Punitive childhood experiences reported by young adults over a 10-year period. Child Abuse & Neglect, 18, 155-166.
30. Lansford, J. E., Alampay, L., Bacchini, D., Bombi, A. S., Bornstein, M. H., Chang, L., Deater-Deckard, K., Di Giunta, L., Dodge, K. A., Oburu, P., Pastorelli, C., Runyan, D. K., Skinner, A. T., Sorbring, E., Tapanya, S., Uribe Tirado, L. M., & Zelli, A. (2010). Corporal punishment of children in nine countries as a function of child gender and parent gender. International Journal of Pediatrics, 2010, Article ID 672780. DOI: 10.1155/2010/672780
31. Lansford, J. E., & Bornstein, M. H. (2007). Review of parenting programs in developing countries. New York: UNICEF.
32. Lansford, J. E., Chang, L., Dodge, K. A., Malone, P. S., Oburu, P., Palmérus, K., Bacchini, D., Pastorelli, C., Bombi, A. S., Zelli, A., Tapanya, S., Chaudhary, N., Deater-Deckard, K., Manke, B., & Quinn, N. (2005). Cultural normativeness as a moderator of the link between physical discipline and children's adjustment: A comparison of China, India, Italy, Kenya, Philippines, and Thailand. Child Development, 76, 1234-1246.
33. Lansford, J. E., Criss, M. M., Dodge, K. A., Shaw, D. S., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (2009). Trajectories of physical discipline: Antecedents and developmental outcomes. Child Development, 80, 1385-1402.
34. Lansford, J. E., Criss, M. M., Laird, R. D., Shaw, D. S., Pettit, G. S., Bates, J. E., & Dodge, K. A. (2011). Reciprocal relations between parents' physical discipline and children's externalizing behavior during middle childhood and adolescence. Development and Psychopathology, 23, 225-238.
35. Lansford, J. E., Deater-Deckard, K., Dodge, K. A., Bates, J. E., & Pettit, G. S. (2004). Ethnic differences in the link between physical discipline and later adolescent externalizing behaviors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 801-812.
36. Larzelere, R. E. (2000). Child outcomes of nonabusive and customary physical punishment by parents: An updated literature review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 3, 199-221.
37. Larzelere, R. E., & Kuhn, B. R. (2005). Comparing child outcomes of physical punishment and alternative disciplinary tactics: A meta-analysis. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 8, 1-37.
38. Lessin, R. (2002). Spanking: A loving discipline: Helpful and practical answers for today's parents. Grand Rapids, MI: Bethany House Publishers.
39. Loeber, R., Burke, J. D., Lahey, B. B., Winters, A., & Zera, M. (2000). Oppositional defiant and conduct disorder: A review of the past 10 years, Part I. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 39, 1468-1484.
40. Lytton, H. (1990). Child and parent effects in boys' conduct disorder: A reinterpretation. Developmental Psychology, 26, 683-697.
41. Maccoby, E. E. (1992). The role of parents in the socialization of children: An historical overview. Developmental Psychology, 28, 1006-1017.
42. Martinez, C. R., Jr., & Forgatch, M. S. (2001). Preventing problems with boys' noncompliance: Effects of a parent training intervention for divorcing mothers. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69, 416-428.
43. Moffitt, T. E. (2005). The new look of behavioral genetics in developmental psychopathology: Gene-environment interplay in antisocial behaviors. Psychological Bulletin, 131, 533-554.
44. Paolucci, E. O., & Violato, C. (2004). A meta-analysis of the published research on the affective, cognitive, and behavioral effects of corporal punishment. Journal of Psychology, 138, 197-221.
45. Patterson, G. R. (1982). Coercive family process. Eugene, OR: Castalia.
46. Patterson, G. R., Reid, J. B., & Dishion, T. J. (1992). Antisocial boys. Eugene, OR: Castalia.
47. Pettit, G. S., & Arsiwalla, D. D. (2008). Commentary on Special Section on "Bidirectional parent-child relationships": The continuing evolution of dynamic, transactional models of parenting and youth behavior problems. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36, 711-718.
48. Pinheiro, P. S. (2006). World report on violence against children. Geneva: United Nations.
49. Rhee, S. H., & Waldman, I. D. (2002). Genetic and environmental influences on antisocial behavior: A meta-analysis of twin and adoption studies. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 490-529.
50. Roberts, M. W., & Powers, S. W. (1990). Adjusting chair timeout enforcement procedures for oppositional children. Behavior Therapy, 21, 257-271.
51. Rosenthal, R., & Rosnow, R. L. (1985). Contrast analysis: Focused comparisons in the analysis of variance. New York: Cambridge University Press.
52. Schafer, J. L., & Graham, J. W. (2002). Missing data: Our view of the state of the art. Psychological Methods, 7, 147-177.
53. Schenck, E. R., Lyman, R. D., & Bodin, S. D. (2000). Ethical beliefs, attitudes, and professional practices of psychologists regarding parental use of corporal punishment: A survey. Children's Services: Social Policy, Research, and Practice, 3, 23-38.
54. Stams, G.-J. J. M., Juffer, F., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2002). Maternal sensitivity, infant attention, and temperament in early childhood predict adjustment in middle childhood: The case of adopted children and their biologically unrelated parents. Developmental Psychology, 38, 806-821.
55. Strassberg, Z., Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (1994). Spanking in the home and children's subsequent aggression toward kindergarten peers. Development and Psychopathology, 6, 445-462.
56. Straus, M. A. (1994). Beating the devil out of them: Corporal punishment in American families. New York: Lexington Books.
57. Straus, M. A., & Paschall, M. J. (2009). Corporal punishment by mothers and development of children's cognitive ability: A longitudinal study of two nationally representative age cohorts. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 18, 459-483.
58. Straus, M. A., & Stewart, J. H. (1999). Corporal punishment by American parents: National data on prevalence, chronicity, severity, and duration, in relation to child and family characteristics. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 2, 55-70.
59. Straus, M. A., Sugarman, D. B., & Giles-Sims, J. (1997). Spanking by parents and subsequent antisocial behavior of children. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 151, 761-767.
60. Thomas, A. M., Forehand, R., Armistead, L., Wierson, M., & Fauber, R. (1990). Cross-informant consistency in externalizing and internalizing problems in early adolescence. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 12, 255-262.
61. Trickett, P. K., & Kuczynski, L. (1986). Children's misbehaviors and parental discipline strategies in abusive and nonabusive families. Developmental Psychology, 22, 115-123.
62. United Nations. (1989). United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Geneva. Washington, DC: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Retrieved from
63. Weiss, B., Dodge, K. A., Bates, J. E., & Pettit, G. S. (1992). Some consequences of early harsh discipline: Child aggression and a maladaptive social information processing style. Child Development, 63, 1321-1335.
64. Wells, K. C. (1997). The death of discipline: Is the requiem premature? Aggression and Violent Behavior, 2, 337-341.