A new study conducted by the Universities of Texas and Michigan found that the more a child gets spanked, the more likely they are to suffer from mental illness and behavioral issues.
The results also showed that children were more likely to defy their parents if they often are reprimanded with a smack in the tush.
According to Mic.com, the study, which defined spanking as an open hand on the backside, was published in the Journal of Family Psychology, and it looked at data from five decades of research representing about 160,000 children.
“We found that spanking was associated with unintended detrimental outcomes and was not associated with more immediate or long-term compliance, which are parents’ intended outcomes when they discipline their children,” says University of Texas professor Elizabeth Gershoff.
According to the University of Texas, who cites a 2014 UNICEF report, as many as 80 percent of parents around the world spank their children.
According to the study, those who receive spankings are more likely to be anti-social, aggressive and suffer from mental health and cognitive difficulties.