Two new studies show that providing parents with information that spanking can lead to short- and long-term child behavior problems may help to change parents’ opinion on this form of discipline. Parents who spank their children often believe it’s an effective form of punishment. Research has found that parents who spank believe spanking can make children behave or respect them. That belief drives parental behavior, more so than their level of anger, the seriousness of the child’s misbehavior or the parent’s perceived intent of the child’s misbehavior. However, decades of research studies have found that spanking is linked to short- and long-term child behavior problems. … [click on title for the rest of the post]