Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Dec;54(6):1607-1623.
doi: 10.1007/s10578-022-01362-3. Epub 2022 Apr 28.

Corporal Punishment and Child Development in Low- and- Middle-Income Countries: Progress, Challenges, and Directions

Jorge Cuartas  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Corporal Punishment and Child Development in Low- and- Middle-Income Countries: Progress, Challenges, and Directions

Jorge Cuartas. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2023 Dec.

Abstract

Most studies and reviews of studies on the developmental consequences of corporal punishment have focused on samples from the U.S. and other high-income countries. This study conducted a rapid review of the literature on the associations between corporal punishment and children's cognitive and social-emotional development in low- and- middle-income countries (LMICs). Information from more than 42 studies of children younger than 18 years living in 64 LMICs was reviewed. Overall, the reviewed studies show associations between corporal punishment and negative cognitive and social-emotional outcomes, and there is no evidence that corporal punishment may relate to any positive developmental outcome in LMICs. Yet, issues of internal and external validity are common in the literature. The current evidence indicates that corporal punishment might increase the risk of detrimental child outcomes in LMICs, but further research with stronger methodological designs including samples from multiple settings is warranted.

Keywords: Child development; Corporal punishment; Low- and- middle-income countries.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Cuartas J, McCoy DC, Rey-Guerra C, Britto PR, Beatriz E, Salhi C (2019) Early childhood exposure to non-violent discipline and physical and psychological aggression in low- and middle-income countries: National, regional, and global prevalence estimates. Child Abuse Negl 92:93–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.03.021 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gershoff ET, Grogan-Kaylor A (2016) Spanking and child outcomes: old controversies and new meta-analyses. J Fam Psychol 30(4):453–469. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000191 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Gershoff ET, Goodman GS, Miller-Perrin CL, Holden GW, Jackson Y, Kazdin AE (2018) The strength of the causal evidence against physical punishment of children and its implications for parents, psychologists, and policymakers. Am Psychol 73(5):626–638. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000327 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Heilmann A, Mehay A, Watt RG, Kelly Y, Durrant JE, van Turnhout J et al (2021) Physical punishment and child outcomes: a narrative review of prospective studies. The Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00582-1 - DOI
    1. United Nations (2006) Convention on the rights of the child, General Comment No. 8. Unite Nations, Geneva