Smacking ‘has lasting effects’ on youngsters
CHILDREN who are smacked at a young age are more likely to suffer from poor mental health and have behavioural problems through to their teenage years, according to a study.
Those who experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as smacking and harsh parenting, had poorer outcomes than those who did not, the study led byUniversity College London (UCL) researchers found.
Authors believe the research adds to calls for children in England to be provided with legal protection from smacking and physical punishment, such as was introduced in Scotland last year.
The study, published in the journal Child, Abuse and Neglect, investigates the long-term effects of adverse experiences on children aged between three and 14. It analysed responses from a sample of over 8,000 members of the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), a research project following the lives of 19,000 children born in the UK between 2000 and 2001.
Data was provided at six points throughout the participants’ childhoods, at the age of nine months, three, five, seven, 11 and 14 years of age. Parents were asked about how often they smacked their children or what they did when they were naughty, as well as questions about parental conflict, alcohol misuse and psychiatric disorders. This was then matched with information about the behaviour and wellbeing of their children.
Researchers found that two thirds of the children had experienced one ACE or more by the age of three, while nearly one in five had experienced two and one in six had experienced three or more.
There were better outcomes for those who had experienced no ACEs, with the poorest outcomes for those experiencing three or more, according to the study.
It found the most common ACEs were parental depression, harsh parenting, smacking, use of force between parents and parental alcohol misuse. Researchers also report that parental depression and conflict were associated with internalising problems – such as playing alone, being nervous in new situations or lacking confidence, worrying, being downhearted or tearful. These behaviours were also shown to increase as the children got older, and, the more bad things they experienced, the more problems they exhibited.
Dr Leonardo Bevilacqua, of the UCL Institute of Education, Department of Psychology and Human Development, said: “Our findings around the stark links between harsh parenting and physical punishment and poor mental health through childhood and into adolescence provide a clear message to policy makers on the need to protect children and educate parents.”
Scotland became the first part of the UK to ban the smacking of children when new legislation came into effect in November last year, giving children the same protection from assault as adults.
Dr Rebecca Lacey, of the UCL Epidemiology and Health Care, said it was “time for England to follow suit” and “accept the evidence” on the potential long-term effects of harsh parenting.