14 DAY TRIAL // A new study found that stress and substance abuse – alcohol or drugs, is associated with some fathers spanking their children, and biological fathers are more prone to do so.
Also, boys are more likely than girls to be physically punished by their dads.
This research is among the first to focus on paternal stress, drug/alcohol abuse and corporal punishment, while considering the father's mental health and involvement with the child, and also the role played by race in all this.
The researchers gathered data from 2,309 biological fathers from 20 cities nationwide with populations that surpassed 200,000 people.
The fathers were either married or cohabiting fathers, but also dads that did not live in the same home as their kids but saw them more than once a month; the children were 3 years old.
The men provided background information about themselves and their mental history, like whether they felt anxious or depressed.
Questions about the frequency of alcohol and drug use within the last 12 months were also answered.
As for the frequency of disciplining their child, in the past 30 days, fathers could choose between 'none', 'only once or twice' and 'a few times or nearly every day'.
The results showed that 61% of the fathers reported no corporal punishment, 23% – moderate corporal punishment and 16% was considered heavy.
When accounting for race, even though African American dads were significantly more likely than white fathers to engage in moderate corporal punishment, they were less likely than white fathers to use heavy corporal punishment.
On the other hand, Hispanic fathers were significantly less likely to engage heavy corporal punishment than white fathers.
Researchers believe that this data is very important since there is not enough research available on Hispanic fathers and their parenting practices.
The study also concluded that younger fathers were more likely to engage in heavy corporal punishment than older ones, while cohabiting fathers and fathers who were not married or living with the child's mother were less likely to report spanking than married fathers.
Also children who were more aggressive, according to their mothers, were more likely to be spanked by their fathers.
Stressed fathers, and those who use alcohol or drugs are more likely to physically punish their child, and also more often than others.
Dads who drank heavily in one day, were more prone to moderate and heavy corporal punishment.
An interesting fact is that these findings are consistent with other studies that focused on mothers – previous research showed that parenting stress rises spanking risk.
The study was led by Shawna Lee, assistant professor at Wayne State University, who worked with Brian Perron, an assistant professor of social work at the University of Michigan, Catherine Taylor, an assistant professor at Tulane University and Neil Guterman, a professor at the University of Chicago.
This research is published in the current issue of the Journal of Interpersonal Violence.