By Amy Norton
New York - Parents who use spanking as a form of punishment are also more likely than other parents to physically abuse their children, a new study shows.
In particular, researchers found, parents who spanked their children relatively frequently or aggressively - using an object instead of a hand - were more likely to say they also used harsher forms of punishment, including hitting, kicking or beating their child.
The findings, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, do not prove that spanking leads to more-abusive types of punishment. However, some past research has found that cases of physical abuse often do result from "escalated spanking," Dr Adam J. Zolotor, the lead researcher on the current study, told reporters.
These latest findings show that as the frequency and "intensity" of spanking increase, so does the risk of physical abuse, explained Zolotor, an assistant professor of family medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Among the 1,435 mothers he and his colleagues surveyed, 45 percent said they or their partner had spanked their child in the past year. These mothers were nearly three times more likely than other mothers to report harsher forms of punishment as well, including beating, kicking, hitting and burning their child.
Mothers who said they used a belt or other object to spank their children were nine times more likely to admit to more abusive punishment.
The American Academy of Paediatrics recommends that parents not spank their children to deal with behaviour problems, and it cautions them to never strike a child with an object or use other forms of physical punishment.
The current study supports that advice, according to Zolotor and his colleagues.
Zolotor recommended that parents try to develop "a lot of different tools" for managing their children's behaviour. He said that can include "time outs," for instance, as well as so-called positive reinforcement - that is, rewarding good behaviour to encourage more of it.
Relying on any one method of discipline is likely to prove ineffective, Zolotor explained, because "anything can wear out" as children get used to it.
He also advised parents to be consistent in their expectations and reactions, and to give children a pass on minor, developmentally appropriate behaviour "problems." A temper tantrum in a two-year-old, he noted, is not bad behaviour, but normal behaviour.