Spanking or slapping your children may increase the odds that they will develop mental health issues that plague them in adulthood, a new study suggests.
Researchers in Canada found that up to 7 percent of a range of mental health disorders were associated with physical punishment -- including spanking, shoving, grabbing or hitting -- during childhood.
"We're not talking about just a tap on the bum," said study author Tracie Afifi, an assistant professor in the department of community health sciences at the University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg."We were looking at people who used physical punishment as a regular means to discipline their children."
Corporal punishment was associated with increased odds of anxiety and mood disorders, including major depression, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, agoraphobia and social phobia. Several personality disorders and alcohol and drug abuse were also linked to physical punishment, the researchers found. While the study finds an association between physical punishment and mental illness, it does not prove that one causes the other.
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