Spanking and Child Development Across the First Decade of Life

Michael J. MacKenzie; Eric Nicklas; Jane Waldfogel; Jeanne Brooks-Gunn

doi:10.1542/peds.2013-1227

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Pediatrics

November 2013, VOLUME 132 / ISSUE 5

Article

Spanking and Child Development Across the First Decade of Life

Michael J. MacKenzie, Eric Nicklas, Jane Waldfogel, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn

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TABLE 1

Descriptive Statistics for Sample From the FFCW

	Sample (N = 1933), OLS
	Age 3	Age 5
% Mothers report spanking child ≥2×/wk	12.6	5.5
% Mothers report spanking child <2×/wk	44.4	46.6
% Mothers report not spanking child	43.0	47.9
% Fathers report spanking child ≥2×/wk	7.3	3.0
% Fathers report spanking child <2×/wk	33.0	30.2
% Fathers report not spanking child	59.7	66.8
% Girls	47.6
Average age of child at year 9 assessment, mo (SD)	111.4 (3.7)
% Born low birth wt	9.2
% First born	38.7
Average emotional temperament score at age 1 (SD)	8.4 (3.1)
Average age of mother at birth, y (SD)	25.0 (6.0)
% Married at baseline and age 5	20.6
% Cohabiting at baseline and married or cohabiting at age 5	17.2
% Not living together at baseline or age 5	32.6
% Living together at baseline, not at age 5	22.0
% Living separate at baseline, together at age 5	7.5
% White, non-Hispanic	23.5
% Black, non-Hispanic	51.9
% Hispanic	21.4
% Other	3.2
% Not completed high school	34.4
% Completed high school or GED only	27.2
% Attended some college or trade school	26.8
% With BA or BS degree or more	11.6
Household income/needs ratio at baseline (SD)	2.4 (2.5)
% Mothers not US born	10.7
% Mothers lived w/ both parents when they were age 15	39.7
% Mothers reported working in past wk at age 9	63.5
Average number of other adults in household at age 9 (SD)	2.0 (0.8)
Average number of other children in household at age 9 (SD)	2.7 (1.3)
% Prenatal drug use, moderate or high alcohol, or smoking	21.2
% Mothers reported IPV before child’s birth	6.5
Mothers’ rating of fathers’ supportiveness during pregnancy (SD)	10.5 (1.6)
% Late starting or no prenatal care	17.3
Average mothers’ parental stress score at age 9 (SD)	12.0 (2.7)
% Maternal depression or general anxiety disorder by age 9	41.4
Average impulsivity score for mothers at age 5 (SD)	6.7 (1.3)
Average WAIS-R Similarities subtest score at age 3 for mother (SD)	6.9 (2.6)
Average CBCL Externalizing Behavior score for child at age 3 (SD)	14.8 (8.1)
Average Maternal Pro-Cognition Activities score at age 1 (SD)	5.4 (1.4)
Average PPVT score for child at age 3 (SD)	86.4 (16.4)

OLS, ordinary least squares.

TABLE 2

Effect of Parental Spanking on Child’s Externalizing CBCL Scores at Age 9

Variable	Model 1: Spanking (SE)	Model 2: Child and Family Characteristics (SE)	Model 3: Maternal Mental Health and Cognition (SE)	Model 4: Earlier Child  Behavior (SE)
Mother spanking ≥twice/wk at age 3^a	1.25^* (0.55)	1.02⁺ (0.54)	0.81 (0.53)	0.21 (0.50)
Mother spanking <twice/wk at age 3^a	0.38 (0.36)	0.28 (0.35)	0.14 (0.34)	−0.04 (0.33)
Mother spanking ≥twice/wk at age 5^a	3.79^*** (0.74)	3.15^*** (0.73)	2.66^*** (0.72)	1.83^** (0.68)
Mother spanking <twice/wk at age 5^a	1.59^*** (0.35)	1.42^*** (0.34)	1.17^** (0.34)	0.65^* (0.32)
Father spanking ≥twice/wk at age 3^a	0.26 (0.74)	0.23 (0.73)	0.02 (0.72)	−0.24 (0.68)
Father spanking <twice/wk at age 3^a	0.36 (0.40)	0.31 (0.40)	0.21 (0.39)	−0.19 (0.37)
Father spanking ≥twice/wk at age 5^a	−0.31 (1.12)	−0.33 (1.10)	−0.33 (1.07)	0.18 (1.02)
Father spanking <twice/wk at age 5^a	−0.14 (0.43)	0.01 (0.42)	0.17 (0.41)	0.25 (0.39)
Control variables included in model
Child and family characteristics		√	√	√
Maternal mental health and cognition			√	√
Earlier child externalizing at age 3				√
Constant	4.78^*** (0.31)	6.11 (4.86)	11.39^* (4.91)	4.32 (4.68)
Observations	1933	1933	1933	1933
R²	0.04	0.10	0.14	0.23

Model 1: Includes only the parental spanking variables.
Model 2: Introduces controls for child and family characteristics: child gender; child’s age; child first born; child emotional temperament at age 1; maternal age at birth; marital status at baseline and at age 9; maternal race or ethnicity; maternal education; household income to needs ratio; mother foreign born; mother lived with both her parents at age 15; maternal employment in past 2 wk; number of adults in household at age 9; number of other children in household at age 9; maternal prenatal drugs, alcohol, or smoking; maternal prenatal IPV exposure; supportive birth father; and late starting or no prenatal care.
Model 3: Includes same controls as Model 2 and adds controls for low maternal stress at age 5, indication of maternal depression of general anxiety disorder over past 9 y, mother’s impulsivity at year 5, and mother’s WAIS-R similarities score at year 3.
Model 4: Includes same controls as Model 3 and adds a control for the child’s earlier externalizing CBCL score at age 3.
↵^a Omitted category is parent not spanking (all models also include controls for father absent at age 3 and father absent at age 5 interviews).
↵*** P < .001;
↵** P < .01;
↵* P < .05;
↵⁺ P < .07.

TABLE 3

Effects of Parental Spanking on Child’s Standardized PPVT Score at Age 9

Variables	Model 1: Spanking (SE)	Model 2: Child and Family Characteristics (SE)	Model 3: Maternal Mental Health and Cognition (SE)	Model 4: Earlier Child Behavior (SE)
Mother spanking ≥twice/wk at age 3^a	−1.20 (1.32)	−1.31 (1.15)	−0.95 (1.15)	−0.37 (1.09)
Mother spanking <twice/wk at age 3^a	0.65 (0.86)	0.49 (0.75)	0.54 (0.75)	0.30 (0.71)
Mother spanking ≥twice/wk at age 5^a	−1.40 (1.82)	−1.65 (1.61)	−1.09 (1.61)	−0.92 (1.52)
Mother spanking <twice/wk at age 5^a	−1.11 (0.83)	−0.00 (0.73)	0.22 (0.73)	0.22 (0.69)
Father spanking ≥twice/wk at age 3^a	0.92 (1.77)	0.32 (1.56)	0.20 (1.55)	−0.56 (1.46)
Father spanking <twice/wk at age 3^a	0.36 (0.97)	0.22 (0.85)	0.24 (0.85)	0.26 (0.80)
Father spanking ≥twice/wk at age 5^a	−5.06⁺ (2.78)	−5.65^* (2.44)	−5.70^* (2.42)	−4.21⁺ (2.29)
Father spanking <twice/wk at age 5^a	−0.70 (1.02)	−1.42 (0.90)	−1.32 (0.89)	−0.79 (0.84)
Control variables included in model
Child & family characteristics		√	√	√
Maternal mental health and cognition			√	√
Earlier child externalizing and PPVT scores at age 3				√
Constant	95.51^*** (0.74)	106.75^*** (10.64)	99.10^*** (10.89)	75.96^*** (10.49)
Observations	1532	1532	1532	1532
R²	0.031	0.28	0.30	0.38

Model 1: Includes only the parental spanking variables.
Model 2: Introduces controls for child and family characteristics: child gender; child’s age; child first born; child emotional temperament at age 1; maternal age at birth; marital status at baseline and at age 9; maternal race or ethnicity; maternal education; household income to needs ratio; mother foreign born; mother lived with both her parents at age 15; maternal employment in past 2 wk; number of adults in household at age 9; number of other children in household at age 9; maternal prenatal drugs, alcohol, or smoking; maternal prenatal IPV exposure; supportive birth father; and late starting or no prenatal care.
Model 3: Includes same controls as Model 2 and adds controls for low maternal stress at age 5, indication of maternal depression of general anxiety disorder over past 9 y, mother’s impulsivity at year 5, mother’s WAIS-R similarities score at year 3, and cognitively stimulating parenting at age 1.
Model 4: Includes same controls as Model 3 and adds a control for the child’s earlier externalizing CBCL score at age 3 and the child’s PPVT score at age 3.
↵^a Omitted category is parent not spanking (all models also include controls for father absent at age 3 and father absent at age 5 interviews).
↵*** P < .001;
** P < .01;
↵* P < .05;
↵⁺ P < .07.