A Penn State researcher and her collaborator found that physical abuse was associated with decreases in children's cognitive performance, while non-abusive forms of physical punishment were independently associated with reduced school engagement and increased peer isolation.
Sarah Font, assistant professor of sociology and co-funded faculty member of the Child Maltreatment Solutions Network, and Jamie Cage, assistant professor in Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Social Work, found that children's performances and engagement in the classroom are significantly influenced by their exposure to mild, harsh and abusive physical punishment in the home. Their study was recently published in Child Abuse and Neglect.
While corporal punishment and physical abuse have been linked with reduced cognitive development and academic achievement in children previously, Font's study is one of the few that simultaneously examines abusive and non-abusive physical punishment as reported by both children and caregivers.
[For more on this story by Brooke McCord, go to https://www.sciencedaily.com/r.../09/170929152212.htm]
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