Physical punishment as a predictor of early cognitive development: Evidence from econometric approaches.

Jorge Cuartas, Dana Charles McCoy, Andrew Grogan-Kaylor, Elizabeth Gershoff

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This study estimates the effect of physical punishment on the cognitive development of 1,167 low-income Colombian children (Mage = 17.8 months old) using 3 analytic strategies: lagged-dependent variables, a difference-in-differences-like approach (DD), and a novel strategy combining matching with a DD-like approach. Across approaches, physical punishment at ages 9–26 months predicted reductions in children’s cognitive development of 0.08–0.21 SD at ages 27–46 months. These results, plus null results of falsification tests, strengthen the argument that physical punishment leads to slower cognitive growth and illustrate the utility of alternative statistical methods to reduce problems of selection bias in developmental research.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2013-2026
Number of pages14
JournalDevelopmental psychology
Volume56
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - 2020

Keywords

  • child discipline
  • Colombia
  • corporal punishment
  • early childhood development
  • physical punishment

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Demography
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Life-span and Life-course Studies

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