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Psychophysiological Assessment of the Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Strategies in Childhood
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Published on: February 11, 2017

An analysis of the physical punishment component of a parent training program

D E Day, M W Roberts

    Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
    |March 1, 1983
    PubMed

    Insights

    Spanking children during time-out did not increase compliance more than a "barrier" method. Enforcing a minimum time-out duration is key for improving child compliance.

    Area of Science:

    • Child Psychology
    • Behavioral Therapy

    Background:

    • Parent training programs often include physical punishment like spanking.
    • The effectiveness of spanking as a component of time-out for compliance is debated.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To evaluate the contribution of spanking to compliance acquisition in a clinic analog setting.
    • To compare the effectiveness of spanking versus a non-spanking (barrier) method during time-out.

    Main Methods:

    • Sixteen noncompliant, clinic-referred preschool children participated.
    • Compliance ratios were measured across spank and no-spank (barrier) conditions.
    • Time-out duration and child disruption at release were balanced between conditions.

    Main Results:

    • Both spanking and barrier procedures were equally effective in increasing compliance ratios.
    • Physical punishment (spanking) was not found to be a critical component for compliance.

    Conclusions:

    • Enforcing a minimum time-out duration is critical for compliance acquisition.
    • Physical punishment is not essential for effective time-out procedures in this setting.

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