Comparing Child Outcomes of Physical Punishment and Alternative Disciplinary Tactics: A Meta-Analysis

This meta-analysis investigates differences between the effect sizes of physical punishment and alternative disciplinary tactics for child outcomes in 26 qualifying studies. Analyzing differences in effect sizes reduces systematic biases and emphasizes direct comparisons between the disciplinary tactics that parents have to select among. The results indicated that effect sizes significantly favored "conditional" spanking over 10 of 13 alternative disciplinary tactics for reducing child noncompliance or antisocial behavior. "Customary" physical punishment yielded effect sizes equal to alternative tactics, except for one large study favoring physical punishment. Only "overly severe" or "predominant" use of physical punishment compared unfavorably with alternative disciplinary tactics. The discussion highlights the need for better discriminations between effective and counterproductive use of disciplinary punishment in general.