The DOI matches its Crossref record; 533 of the 533 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Corporal punishment by parents and associated child behaviors and experiences: A meta-analytic and theoretical review
Abstract
Although the merits of parents using corporal punishment to discipline children have been argued for decades, a thorough understanding of whether and how corporal punishment affects children has not been reached. Toward this end, the author first presents the results of meta-analyses of the association between parental corporal punishment and 11 child behaviors and experiences. Parental corporal punishment was associated with all child constructs, including higher levels of immediate compliance and aggression and lower levels of moral internalization and mental health. The author then presents a process-context model to explain how parental corporal punishment might cause particular child outcomes and considers alternative explanations. The article concludes by identifying 7 major remaining issues for future research.
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“Each of these four meta-analyses included a different set of articles and came to varied conclusions, namely that physical punishment is largely ineffective and harmful (Gershoff, 2002), that physical punishment is effective under certain circumstances (Larzelere & Kuhn, 2005), and that physical punishment is linked with children’s cognitive, emotional, and behavioral problems but only modestly (F”
From Spanking and child outcomes: Old controversies and new meta-analyses. (2016) · cites this paper as Gershoff, 2002
In the citing paper
“Taken together, these meta-analyses provide evidence that physical punishment is associated with negative child outcomes, particularly when the outcomes are divided into finer-grained categories (Ferguson, 2013; Gershoff, 2002) rather than when they are grouped into broad categories (Paolucci & Violato, 2004), and that harsher methods of physical punishment are more strongly associated with”
From Spanking and child outcomes: Old controversies and new meta-analyses. (2016) · cites this paper as Gershoff, 2002
In the citing paper
“The finding that spanking was not linked with immediate defiance was unexpected given the opposite findings in the Gershoff (2002) meta-analyses.”
From Spanking and child outcomes: Old controversies and new meta-analyses. (2016) · cites this paper as Gershoff (2002)
In the citing paper
“The mean effect size across all studies, d = .33, was smaller than the overall mean effect size reported by Gershoff (2002), d = .40, but still statistically significant.”
From Spanking and child outcomes: Old controversies and new meta-analyses. (2016) · cites this paper as Gershoff (2002)
In the citing paper
“PP has been linked to many negative effects (e.g., poor child mental health outcomes, aggression; Afifi, Mota, Sareen, & MacMillan, 2017;Gershoff, 2002;Sege, Siegel, COUNCIL”
From Child abuse-related homicides precipitated by caregiver use of harsh physical punishment (2023) · cites this paper as Gershoff, 2002
In the citing paper
“Similarly, in a meta-analysis examining spanking and detrimental child outcomes, spanking was significantly associated with risk of PA with mean weighted effect size at (d 0.64; CI, 0.39 to 1.74; Gershoff, 2002).”
From Child abuse-related homicides precipitated by caregiver use of harsh physical punishment (2023) · cites this paper as Gershoff, 2002
In the citing paper
“Despite differences across studies, these estimates highlight PP as an important public health issue because it involves use of physical force (e.g., hitting), which can escalate to abusive or harsh PP, resulting in child physical abuse (PA; Afifi et al., 2017;Gershoff, 2002) or death (Cavanagh, Dobash, & Dobash, 2007).”
From Child abuse-related homicides precipitated by caregiver use of harsh physical punishment (2023) · cites this paper as Gershoff, 2002
In the citing paper
“possible reasons for this difference might include perpetrators' age, attitude towards PP, or lack of training or knowledge of effective nonphysical disciplinary strategies used to correct child misbehavior (Ateah & Durrant, 2005;Gershoff, 2002).”
From Child abuse-related homicides precipitated by caregiver use of harsh physical punishment (2023) · cites this paper as Gershoff, 2002
In the citing paper
“Prior studies have established a link between PP and negative outcomes (Afifi et al., 2017;Cavanagh et al., 2007;Gershoff, 2002;Sege et al., 2018;Trocmé et al., 2005).”
From Child abuse-related homicides precipitated by caregiver use of harsh physical punishment (2023) · cites this paper as Gershoff, 2002
In the citing paper
“Fourth, PP is often described as points on a continuum; thus, the range of behaviors (e.g., hitting, spanking, slapping) subsumed under the term PP vary (Gershoff, 2002).”
From Child abuse-related homicides precipitated by caregiver use of harsh physical punishment (2023) · cites this paper as Gershoff, 2002
In the citing paper
“Over a span of five decades, numerous cross-cultural studies, longitudinal investigations (Berlin et al., 2009; Gershoff et al., 2012), and large meta-analyses (Gershoff, 2002; Gershoff and Grogan-Kaylor, 2016) provide converging evidence regarding the harmful outcomes, which include depression or depressed mood (Fergusson et al., 2008), antisocial behavior (Straus et al., 1997), substance use, Su”
From The evolved nest, oxytocin functioning, and prosocial development (2023) · cites this paper as Gershoff (2002)
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Pinquart, M. (2017) · Developmental psychology · doi:10.1037/dev0000295 · Cited by 1,339
Spanking and child outcomes: Old controversies and new meta-analyses.
Gershoff, E. T., & Grogan-Kaylor, A. (2016) · Journal of Family Psychology · doi:10.1037/fam0000191 · Cited by 931
“The first and most widely cited of the meta-analyses was by Gershoff (2002).”
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Reward, punishment, and cooperation: A meta-analysis.
Balliet, D. P., Mulder, L. B., & Lange, P. A. M. V. (2011) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0023489 · Cited by 752
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Straus, M. A. (2004) · Violence Against Women · doi:10.1177/1077801204265552 · Cited by 702
Metadata
- Authors
- Gershoff, E. T.
- Affiliations
- Columbia University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Gershoff, Elizabeth Thompson
- Venue
- Psychological Bulletin
- Published
- 2002
- Volume
- 128
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 539-579
- ISSN
- 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1455
- OpenAlex
- W2139885671
- Cited by
- 2,165
- References
- 523
- Citations by year
- 2026: 61 · 2025: 73 · 2024: 68 · 2023: 84 · 2022: 90 · 2021: 106 · 2020: 140 · 2019: 118 · 2018: 131 · 2017: 111 · 2016: 123 · 2015: 137 · 2014: 152 · 2013: 127 · 2012: 119
- FWCI
- 44.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Arizona State University
- National Institute of Mental Health
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Education › Education Discipline and Inequality
- Keywords
- corporal punishment, parental discipline, child behavior, child compliance, child aggression, moral internalization, child mental health, child outcomes
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Child, Child Abuse, Child Behavior, Child, Preschool, Humans, Infant, Internal-External Control, Parent-Child Relations, Personality Development, Punishment, Socialization
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