Gandhinagar : For decades, families around the world have debated how best to discipline children. Some believe physical punishment works, especially in cultures where it’s common. But what if science proves that hitting or spanking kids is harmful—no matter where they grow up?
That’s exactly what a major new study published in Nature Human Behaviour shows. The research, titled “Physical punishment and lifelong outcomes in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis,” provides strong evidence that physical punishment is universally damaging. The study was led by researchers from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development and they found that physical punishment—such as spanking, smacking, or shaking—has consistently harmful effects on children, regardless of cultural norms or economic conditions.
For years, the United Nations has advocated for a global ban on corporal punishment, with 65 countries already implementing full or partial bans. Much of the research supporting these bans came from high-income countries, leading some to wonder if the effects might be different elsewhere.
This idea, known as the “cultural normativeness hypothesis,” suggested that if physical punishment was more common or accepted in a society, its impact might be less severe. However, a lack of data from LMICs made it tough to truly understand this. This new study changes that.
Is physical punishment really harmful, even in cultures where it’s widely accepted?
This new research definitively states: Yes, physical punishment is consistently linked to negative outcomes for children, even in cultures where it may be more prevalent or considered socially normative.
Lead author Jorge Cuartas, an assistant professor of applied psychology at the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, notes that “Research from high-income countries has found negative outcomes associated with physical punishment”.
However, he explains that “Some scholars have suggested that physical punishment might have different effects in countries where it is more prevalent or socially normative, a perspective known as the cultural normativeness hypothesis”.
Cuartas elaborates that “the lack of data from low- and middle-income countries has made it challenging to fully understand the balance between universal and context-specific harms of physical punishment during childhood”.
This latest meta-analysis bridges that gap, confirming that “physical punishment is associated with detrimental outcomes for individuals in LMICs”.
What kinds of negative outcomes are linked to physical punishment?
A very wide range—covering mental health, behavior, relationships, and even future violence.
The study examined 19 outcomes and found that physical punishment was harmful in 16 of them. These included:
- Mental health problems
- Worse parent–child relationships
- Substance use
- Impaired social–emotional development
- Negative academic outcomes
- Aggressive or destructive behavior
- Becoming a victim of violence
- Perpetrating violence later in life, including intimate partner violence
- Approving of violence as acceptable
- Physical health problems
- Poor language skills
- Impaired executive function
- Overall behavioral problems
- Depression or withdrawal
- Delayed child development
- Poor sleep quality
The researchers stress a key point: “no positive outcomes were associated with corporal punishment” and it had “no impact on cognitive skills, motor skills, and child labor.”
Equally important, the study found that these harmful effects were “specific to physical punishment and psychological aggression”—they were not typical of other non-violent methods of discipline.
How did the researchers come to such a strong conclusion?
By analyzing an enormous amount of global data.
The team conducted what’s called a “systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis”—a way of combining results from many studies to see the big picture.
They reviewed “189 studies, comprising 1,490 unique effect sizes and representing 92 LMICs.” Press materials note that this included “195 studies related to corporal punishment published between 2002 and 2024 covering 92 LMICs and 19 outcomes.”
The researchers searched “for keywords related to physical punishment in six languages across 11 databases” to make sure they included as many perspectives as possible.
This massive review was led by a team of experts: Jorge Cuartas (NYU), Elizabeth T. Gershoff (University of Texas at Austin), Drew H. Bailey (University of California, Irvine), Maria Alejandra Gutiérrez (Yale University), and Dana C. McCoy (Harvard University).
This research strongly debunks the “cultural normativeness hypothesis” by showing that negative impacts are consistent across different economic and cultural settings. It solidifies the argument that protecting children from physical force is a universal necessity for their healthy development.
What does this mean for the future of discipline worldwide?
The message is clear: hitting kids doesn’t work—and it causes real harm.
The authors write that “physical punishment is universally harmful to children and adolescents.”
This also lines up with global calls for change. “In 2006, the United Nations Secretary General called for a ban on corporal punishment,” and since then, “65 countries worldwide have instituted full or partial bans of the practice,” mostly in high-income nations.
Now, with solid evidence from low- and middle-income countries, the case for global action is even stronger.
Cuartas emphasizes: “Moving forward, more research is needed to identify effective strategies for preventing physical punishment on a global scale and ensuring that children are protected from all forms of violence to support their healthy development.”
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