parental hitting might harm childrens' speach

Mods: I wasn't sure whether to put this in social issues or science...



http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/93224...-childs-speech

Quote:

A robust body of evidence suggests that spanking a child leads to problems and the latest evidence of its negative effect shows it can cause increased levels of aggression and worse vocabulary skills. Researchers from Columbia University in the US came to the conclusion after analysing data collected from 1500 families. The study was published this week in the journal Pediatrics. While several studies have found a connection between spanking and aggressive behaviour, the finding that spanking could be linked to cognitive ability was somewhat new.

The reason why I put this in Social issues is this bit:

Quote:

The study followed children from 20 US cities from birth to age 10. Most of the children were born between 1998 and 2000. Parents were asked questions about their child's behaviour and whether they had spanked their children within the past month. The answer was frequently yes: 57 per cent of mothers and 40 per cent of fathers reported spanking their children when they were 3-years-old, as did 52 per cent of mothers and 33 per cent of fathers when their children were 5-years-old.

I was surprised by the rates being so high, which set me wondering how the rates vary across socio-economic groups and countries. My kids are a similar age, and can't recall thinking of that as an option - I guess the same is with most of my social circle.



How do the attitudes to parental corporal punishment vary across here?

via JREF Forum http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=267617&goto=newpost