Children worldwide who have been spanked by their parents are more likely to become a victim of physical abuse later on in the future, according to a study conducted by University of Michigan researchers.
The peer-reviewed study, which was published on Science Direct last month, analyzed the connection between spanking and physical abuse in 56 countries and 156,000 children ages 1-4.
However, physical abuse inflicted by parents on their children varies due to differences across international cultures.
Results
The final result saw that out of an average of 100 children, 63 were not spanked and not abused, five were not spanked but still abused, 25 were spanked but not abused, three were both spanked and abused, and four wouldn't be abused if spanking were eliminated.
Overall, physical abuse decreased by 14% when comparing children who were spanked to those who weren't. Therefore, spanking was associated with higher odds of physical abuse.