Spanking May Contribute to Lower IQ in Children

2009-09-28 02:58:23 (GMT) (WiredPRNews.com - Health & Fitness, News)

Wired PR News reports new research suggests spankings can lower IQ scores in children.

New research suggests that children who receive spankings may have lower IQ scores.

Press Release Service – Wired PR News – Spanking may contribute to a lower IQ in children. As reported by HealthDay News, new research on the issue revealed that the decline in popularity of corporal punishment in the U.S. has seemed to lead to an increase in children’s IQs.

Murray Straus, University of New Hampshire Family Research Laboratory co-director and sociology professor, is quoted in the report as stating of survey research findings, “How often parents spanked made a difference…The more spanking, the slower the development of the child’s mental ability. But even small amounts of spanking made a difference.”

The research about spanking was reportedly recently presented by Straus at the International Conference on Violence, Abuse and Trauma in San Diego.

Dr. Rahil Briggs, a child psychologist with Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, is quoted by HealthDay as stating of the issue of spanking, “If you spank, you teach your child that hitting is the way to deal with a situation…But if you use other methods of discipline, you can begin teaching your child higher-level cognitive skills, self-control, cause-and-effect and logical thinking.”

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