Corporal punishment
4 Oct, 08 | by Ian Wacogne
In an analysis of 12,764 child/mother pairs in the US, maternal depression and exposure to violence were associated with the use of smacking as a means of punishment. Here.
I was the handling editor for this paper, and I think it is a cracking bit of work. I have to admit that some of the statistics are beyond me, but focus on this: the adjusted odds ratio of using smacking if you had a depressive illness was 1.59 (95% CI 1.40, 1.80). Isn’t that astonishing? Obviously the authors are careful not to over-speculate, but what if, what if… what if you treated these mothers’ depression? Would they work out better ways to discipline their children? Or am I just mistaking an association for causation?
In any case, you should all have a look at this while you’re at it: http://www.bethefullstop.com/
