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ORLANDO – Children spanked by their parents are more likely to develop aggressive behaviors and are also more likely to suffer from mental disorders, according to new guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
"Aversive disciplinary strategies, including all forms of corporal punishment and howling or shaming children, are inefficient in the short term and not effective in the long run," according to an updated policy statement.
"The recommendation is that corporal punishment is harmful to the physical and mental health of children, they are not effective and parents should use other methods of discipline," said Robert Sege, MD, PhD, of the council on abuse and neglect of children, the psychosocial committee. aspects of child and family health, at a press conference at the annual AAP meeting.
Sege, from the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, said that this update of the 1998 recommendations was based on many studies done over the last two decades and reinforcing the AAP's directions. The new guidelines go even further by highlighting the harmful effects of corporal punishment:
- Corporal punishment of children under the age of 18 months increases the risk of physical injury
- Repeated use of corporal punishment can lead to aggressive behavior and altercations between the parent and the child and can negatively affect the parent-child relationship.
- Corporal punishment is associated with increased aggression in preschool and school age children
In one study, children spanked more than twice a month at the age of 3 were more aggressive at the age of 5 years. A 9-year follow-up study "found correlations between spanking at age 5 and higher levels of externalized behavior and lower receptive vocabulary scores at age 5. Age 9, wrote the authors.
"This can lead to a cycle in which children who are being spanked have more aggressive behavior, resulting in greater spanking," Sege said.
Another study showed that the impact of corporal punishment was short-lived: within 10 minutes, 73% of children repeated the behavior for which they were originally punished.
Sege coauthors and guidelines pointed out that pediatricians helped parents develop different methods of disciplining their children.
"There are a number of disciplinary approaches that pediatricians can discuss with parents during welcome child visits and visits designed to solve discipline problems." These approaches are discussed in Bright Futures Guidelines for Health Surveillance of Infants, Children and Youth, on the AAP website, HealthyChildren.org, and in the AAP program Connected Kids: Safe, Strong, Secure," they wrote.
For example, the "stop running" directive may be ineffective for younger children because they only see the word "run" and continue, Jennifer Shu, MD, editor-in-chief of HealthyChildren.org, told the conference. Press. Instead, the parent could ask the child to walk, she said.
Shu, from the Atlanta Children's Medical Group, also suggested creating checklists for kids before school to avoid any last-minute chaos and that "everyone is struggling to go out.
She emphasized that preparing children to succeed in daily activities could be more effective than resorting to corporal punishment.
Sege said MedPage today this legislation that would change corporal punishment in school and at home was beyond the scope of the document. "In general, we support policies that make children safer and happier," he said.
He noted that 19 states allow corporal punishment in schools and that 50 states allow corporal punishment in homes. But "the most important relationship each of us has is the relationship with our parents, and there is no need to put fear and violence in this relationship," said Sege.
All AAP policy statements expire automatically five years after publication, unless reaffirmed, revised or withdrawn on or before that date.
Sege and his co-authors have revealed no relevant relationship with the industry.
2018-05-11T00: 00: 00-0400
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