Robert E. Larzelere Ph.D

Executive summary of “Comparing Child Outcomes of Physical Punishment and Alternative Disciplinary Tactics: A Meta-Analysis
Robert E. Larzelere1 (1,2) and Brett R. Kuhn1 (1)

(1) Psychology Department, Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Nebraska
(2) Psychology Department, MMI, 985450 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, 68198-5450

Abstract This meta-analysis investigates differences between the effect sizes of physical punishment and alternative disciplinary tactics for child outcomes in 26 qualifying studies. Analyzing differences in effect sizes reduces systematic biases and emphasizes direct comparisons between the disciplinary tactics that parents have to select among. The results indicated that effect sizes significantly favored conditional spanking over 10 of 13 alternative disciplinary tactics for reducing child noncompliance or antisocial behavior. Customary physical punishment yielded effect sizes equal to alternative tactics, except for one large study favoring physical punishment. Only overly severe or predominant use of physical punishment compared unfavorably with alternative disciplinary tactics. The discussion highlights the need for better discriminations between effective and counterproductive use of disciplinary punishment in general.

to get the full copy email:

Robert E. Larzelere robert.larzelere@okstate.edu

or from the journal at http://www.springerlink.com/content/k0x4468k255187qg/


Selected Publications on Physical Discipline by Parents by Dr. Robert Larzelere, with Internet Links

Selected Publications on Physical Discipline by Parents by Dr. Robert Larzelere, with Internet Links (Oklahoma State University)

Larzelere, R. E., & Kuhn, B. R. (2005). Comparing child outcomes of physical punishment and alternative disciplinary tactics: A meta-analysis. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 8 (1), 1-37.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/k0x4468k255187qg/

Larzelere, R. E. (2005). Differentiating evidence from advocacy in evaluating Sweden’s spanking ban: A response to Joan Durrant’s critique of my booklet “Sweden’s smacking ban: More harm than good”.Unpublished manuscript, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE.
http://people.biola.edu/faculty/paulp/rdurrunl.75.pdf

Larzelere, R. E. (2004). Scientific evidence on smacking. BMJ: British Medical Journal (eletter at http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/329/7476/1195).

Larzelere, R. E., Kuhn, B. R., & Johnson, B. (2004) The intervention selection bias: An under-recognized confound in intervention studies. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 289-303.
http://content.apa.org/journals/bul/130/2/289.html

Baumrind, D., Larzelere, R. E., & Cowan, P. A. (2002). Ordinary physical punishment: Is it harmful? Comment on Gershoff (2002). Psychological Bulletin, 128, 580-589. http://content.apa.org/journals/bul/128/4/580.html.

Larzelere, R. E. (2001). Sweden: Data does not support success claims. Families First (Issue 2), 12-15. http://www.families-first.org.uk/nl/index.html & www.families-first.org.uk/pr/2001-11-01.html Updated and reprinted in 2004 as Sweden’s smacking ban: More harm than good. Essex, England: Families First. http://www.christian.org.uk/pdfpublications/sweden_smacking.pdf

Larzelere, R. E. (2001). Combining love and limits in authoritative parenting. In J. C. Westman (Ed.), Parenthood in America (pp. 81-89). Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press. (http://parenthood.library.wisc.edu/Larzelere/Larzelere.html)

Larzelere, R. E. (2001, May). We need the full picture on both smacking and vaccinations [Letter to the editor]. Archives of Diseases in Childhood, 84, 450. http://adc.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/84/5/450e

Larzelere, R. E. (2000). Child outcomes of non-abusive and customary physical punishment by parents: An updated literature review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 3 (4), 199-221. (http://ipsapp007.lwwonline.com/content/getfile/4578/4/1/fulltext.pdf)
This review was compared and contrasted with a review by Gershoff (2002) by the president-elect of the American Psychological Association: Benjet, C., & Kazdin, A. E. (2003). Spanking children: The controversies, findings, and new directions. Clinical Psychology Review, 23, 197-224. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VB8-46MJPYH-2&_user=152108&_coverDate=03%2F31%2F2003&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000012538&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=152108&md5=3c4b6ba8493fff1ea9e49d1682ba0cc8 Note that the Larzelere-Kuhn (2005) review follows the Benjet-Kazdin (2003) recommendation that the outcomes of physical discipline be compared with alternative disciplinary tactics that parents could use instead.

Larzelere, R. E. (2000). Weak evidence for a smacking ban [letter]. BJM: British Medical Journal, 320, 1538-1539. (http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/320/7248/1538/a)

Larzelere, R. E. (1999). To spank or not to spank [Letter to the editor] Pediatrics, 85, 381-392.
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/103/3/696?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=spanking&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT

Larzelere, R. E., Baumrind, D., & Polite, K. (1998). Two emerging perspectives of parental spanking from two 1996 conferences. Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, 152, 303-305. http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/issues/v152n3/ffull/plt0398-2.html

Larzelere, R. E., Sather, P. R., Schneider, W. N., Larson, D. B., & Pike, P. L.(1998). Punishment enhances reasoning’s effectiveness as a toddler disciplinary response to toddlers. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60(2), 388-403. Summary: http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/Horn072998.html http://www.fatherhood.org/articles/wh072898.htm Article: http://www.jstor.org/cgi-bin/jstor/printpage/00222445/ap020140/02a00090/0?frame=noframe&dpi=3&userID=8b4e8a3b@okstate.edu/01cc99331600501b6b991&backcontext=table-of-contents&backurl=/cgi-bin/jstor/listjournal/00222445/ap020140%3fframe%3dframe%26dpi%3d3%26userID%3d8b4e8a3b@okstate.edu/01cc99331600501b6b991%26config%3djstor&action=download&config=jstor

1996 Scientific Consensus Conference on Corporal Punishment, co-sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics, including a review of the literature by Larzelere and reply by Diana Baumrind: Larzelere, R. E. (1996). A review of the outcomes of parental use of nonabusive or customary physical punishment. Pediatrics, 98(4), 824-831. (Summary included in http://www.christian.org.uk/html-publications/Advocate2.pdf )
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/results?vid=2&hid=117&sid=36c0289a-7fbc-446a-9f48-4dca187ee788%40sessionmgr2

Larzelere, R. E., & Merenda, J. A. (1994). The effectiveness of parental discipline for toddler misbehavior at different levels of child distress. Family Relations, 43, 480-488. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0197-6664%28199410%2943%3A4%3C480%3ATEOPDF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-W

Larzelere, R. E. (1994). Should the use of corporal punishment by parents be considered child abuse? No. In M. A. Mason & E. Gambrill (Eds.), Debating children’s lives: Current controversies on children and adolescents (pp. 204-209, 217-218). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/CP6.pdf

Other links on corporal punishment by parents available at http://people.biola.edu/faculty/paulp/

Chris Beckett’s article exposing the “Swedish myth” that no more than one child abuse fatality has occurred in any year in Sweden since they banned spanking there in 1979:
http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/35/1/125


Parental Discipline Bibliography

Parental Discipline Bibliography

Robert E. Larzelere, Ph.D. (Robert.Larzelere@okstate.edu)
Dept. of Human Development and Family Science, 233 HES, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078 (405) 744-2053

Publications

Larzelere, R. E., & Kuhn, B. R. (2005). Enhancing behavioral parent training with an extended discipline ladder. The Behavior Therapist, 28, 105-108.

Larzelere, R. E., & Kuhn, B. R. (2005). Comparing child outcomes of physical punishment and alternative disciplinary tactics: A meta-analysis. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 8 (1), 1-37. http://www.springerlink.com/content/k0x4468k255187qg/

Powers, S., & Larzelere, R. (2005). Behavioral theory and corporal punishment. In M. Donnelly & M. A. Straus (Eds.), Corporal punishment of children in theoretical perspective (pp. 91-102). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Polaha, J., Larzelere, R. E., Shapiro, S. K., & Pettit, G. S. (2004). Physical discipline and child behavior problems: A study of ethnic group differences. Parenting: Science and Practice, 4, 339-360.

Larzelere, R. E. (2004). Scientific evidence on smacking. BMJ: British Medical Journal (eletter at http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/329/7476/1195).

Larzelere, R. E., Kuhn, B. R., & Johnson, B. (2004). The intervention selection bias: An under-recognized confound in intervention research. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 289-303. http://content.apa.org/journals/bul/130/2/289.html

Larzelere, R. E., & Kuhn, B. R. (2003). Discipline. In J. J. Ponzetti, Jr. (Ed.), International encyclopedia of marriage and family (2nd ed., Vol. 1, pp. 462-469). New York: Macmillan.

Baumrind, D., Larzelere, R. E., & Cowan, P. A. (2002). Ordinary physical punishment: Is it harmful? Comment on Gershoff (2002). Psychological Bulletin, 128, 580-589. http://www.apa.org/journals/bul/press_releases/july_2002/ or http://content.apa.org/journals/bul/128/4/580.html”>http://www.apa.org/journals/bul/press_releases/july_2002/

Larzelere, R. E. (2001). Sweden: Data does not support success claims. Families First (Issue 2), 12-15. www.families-first.org.uk/nl/index.html & www.families-first.org.uk/pr/2001-11-01.html Updated and reprinted in 2004 as Sweden’s smacking ban: More harm than good. Essex, England: Families First. http://www.christian.org.uk/pdfpublications/sweden_smacking.pdf

Larzelere, R. E. (2001, May). We need the full picture on both smacking and vaccinations [Letter to the editor]. Archives of Diseases in Childhood, 84, 450. http://adc.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/84/5/450e

Larzelere, R. E. (2001). Combining love and limits in authoritative parenting. In J. C. Westman (Ed.), Parenthood in America (pp. 81-89). Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press. (http://parenthood.library.wisc.edu/Larzelere/Larzelere.html)

Larzelere, R. E. (2000). Child outcomes of non-abusive and customary physical punishment by parents: An updated literature review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 3 (4), 199-221. (http://ipsapp007.lwwonline.com/content/getfile/4578/4/1/fulltext.pdf)

Larzelere, R. E. (2000). Weak evidence for a smacking ban [letter]. BJM: British Medical Journal, 320, 1538-1539. (http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/320/7248/1538/a)

Larzelere, R. E., & Johnson, B. (1999). Evaluations of the effects of Sweden’s spanking ban of physical child abuse rates: A literature review. Psychological Reports, 85, 381-392.

Larzelere, R. E. (1999). To spank or not to spank (letter to the editor). Pediatrics, 103, 696-697. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/103/3/696?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=spanking&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT”>http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/103/3/696?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=spanking&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT

Larzelere, R. E. (1998). Effective vs. counterproductive parental spanking: Toward more light and less heat. Marriage and Family, 1, 179-192.

Larzelere, R. E., Baumrind, D., & Polite, K. (1998). Two emerging perspectives of parental spanking from two 1996 conferences. Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, 152, 303-305. http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/issues/v152n3/ffull/plt0398-2.html

Larzelere, R. E., Sather, P. R., Schneider, W. N., Larson, D. B., & Pike, P. L.(1998). Punishment enhances reasoning’s effectiveness as a toddler disciplinary response to toddlers. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60(2), 388-403. Summary: http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/Horn072998.html http://www.fatherhood.org/articles/wh072898.htm Article: http://www.jstor.org/cgi-bin/jstor/printpage/00222445/ap020140/02a00090/0?frame=noframe&dpi=3&userID=8b4e8a3b@okstate.edu/01cc99331600501b6b991&backcontext=table-of-contents&backurl=/cgi-bin/jstor/listjournal/00222445/ap020140%3fframe%3dframe%26dpi%3d3%26userID%3d8b4e8a3b@okstate.edu/01cc99331600501b6b991%26config%3djstor&action=download&config=jstor

Larzelere, R. E., Silver, C., & Polite, K. (1997). Nonabusive spanking: Parental liberty or child abuse? Children’s Legal Rights Journal, 17(4), 7-17.

Larzelere, R. E., Schneider, W. N., Larson, D. B., & Pike, P. L. (1996). The effects of discipline responses in delaying toddler misbehavior recurrences. Child and Family Behavior Therapy, 18 (3), 35-57. http://www.haworthpress.com/store/ArticleAbstract.asp?sid=DJTMPRBTUTM88LTN3WBU863T3LV58B3C&ID=71017

Larzelere, R. E. (1996). A review of the outcomes of parental use of nonabusive or customary physical punishment. Pediatrics, 98(4), 824-831. Summary included in http://www.christian.org.uk/html-publications/Advocate2.pdf Proceedings of the Scientific Consensus Conference on Corporal Punishment that invited this review and Diana Baumrind’s response: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/results?vid=2&hid=117&sid=36c0289a-7fbc-446a-9f48-4dca187ee788%40sessionmgr2

Larzelere, R. E. (1995). Discipline. In D. Levinson (Ed.), Encyclopedia of marriage and the family, pp. 172-177. New York: Macmillan.

Larzelere, R. E., & Merenda, J. A. (1994). The effectiveness of parental discipline for toddler misbehavior at different levels of child distress. Family Relations, 43, 480-488. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0197-6664%28199410%2943%3A4%3C480%3ATEOPDF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-W

Larzelere, R. E. (1994). Should the use of corporal punishment by parents be considered child abuse? No. In M. A. Mason & E. Gambrill (Eds.), Debating children’s lives: Current controversies on children and adolescents (pp. 204-209, 217-218). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/CP6.pdf

Larzelere, R. E. (1993). Response to Oosterhuis: Empirically justified uses of spanking: Toward a discriminating view of corporal punishment. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 21, 142-147.

Larzelere, R. E., Amberson, T. G., & Martin, J. A. (1992). Age differences in perceived discipline problems from 9 to 48 months. Family Relations, 41(2), 192-199.

Larzelere, R. E., & Patterson, G. R. (1990). Parental management: Mediator of the effect of socioeconomic status on early delinquency. Criminology, 28, 301-324.

Larzelere, R. E., Klein, M., Schumm, W. R., & Alibrando, S. A., Jr. (1989). The effects of spanking and other parenting characteristics on self-esteem and perceived fairness of parental discipline. Psychological Reports, 64, 1140-1142.

Larzelere, R. E. (1986). Moderate spanking: Model or deterrent of children’s aggression in the family? Journal of Family Violence, 1, 27-36.

Presentations and Unpublished Papers

Larzelere, R. E., & Mandara, J. (2006, November). Bell’s control system theory: Reconciling developmental and behavioral views of parental discipline. Paper presented at the Theory Construction and Research Methodology Workshop preceding the annual convention of the National Council on Family Relations, Minneapolis, MN.

Larzelere, R. E., Ferrer, E., & Kuhn, B. R. (2006, October). Longitudinal causal inferences given selection biases and regression artifacts. Paper presented at the 6th annual Winemiller Conference on Statistics in the Social Sciences, Statistics Dept., University of Missouri, Columbia, MO.

Larzelere, Ferrer, E., & Kuhn, B. R. (2006, August). Associations of a reasoning vs. punishment continuum with antisocial trajectories. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, New Orleans, LA.

Larzelere, R. E., Ferrer, E., & Kuhn, B. R. (2005, August). What alternatives can pass the scientific tests flunked by spanking? (A methodological inquiry). Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.

Larzelere, R. E., & Kuhn, B. R. (2005, August). Immediate effectiveness of disciplinary tactics by type of noncompliance (A reanalysis of Ritchie, 1999). Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.

Larzelere, R. E. (2005). Differentiating evidence from advocacy in evaluating Sweden’s spanking ban: A response to Joan Durrant’s critique of my booklet “Sweden’s smacking ban: More harm than good”.Unpublished manuscript, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE. http://people.biola.edu/faculty/paulp/rdurrunl.75.pdf

Larzelere, R. E., & Baumrind, D. (2005, April). The role of power assertion in the effects of parenting styles on adolescent outcomes. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Atlanta.

Larzelere, R. E., Ferrer, E., & Kuhn, B. R. (2005, April). Do parenting practices predict subsequent child aggression after controlling for child effects? Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Atlanta.

Larzelere, R. E. (2005, March). Children and violence in the family: Scientific contributions. (a submission to the UN Global Study on Children and Violence, on behalf of the American College of Pediatricians). Unpublished manuscript.

Larzelere, R. E. (Chair). 2003, April). Linking physical discipline to child outcomes: When are causal inferences justified? Symposium presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Tampa, FL.

Larzelere, R. E. (2003, March). The difficulty of making valid causal inferences from passive longitudinal designs. Invited presentation at the conference “The Future of Longitudinal Studies,” Berkeley, CA. (http://ihd.berkeley.edu/larzelere.htm)

Larzelere, R. E. (2002, August). Child outcomes of disciplinary reasoning: A literature review. Paper for a poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Chicago.

Larzelere, R. E., & Smith, G. L. (2000, August). Controlled longitudinal effects of five disciplinary tactics on antisocial behavior. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington DC.

Larzelere, R. E. (1999, June). Discipline of children: To spank or not to spank? Debate presentation (with M. A. Straus) at the Second International Conference of the National Foundation for Family Research and Education, Bankff, Alberta. (Summarized at http://people.biola.edu/faculty/paulp/debate.html)

Larzelere, R. E. (1997, September). Implications of research on parental spanking for understanding the effects of parental discipline responses in general. University of Kansas Medical Center’s Department of Pediatrics Grand Rounds, Kansas City, Kansas.

Larzelere, R. E. (1997, August). Premature advocacy against all parental spanking: Going way beyond science. Invited response to symposium, “Should APA take a position on spanking? A child advocacy perspective,” I. A. Hyman (chair), at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Chicago.

Larzelere, R. E. (1997, August). Critique of Straus et al. (1997) study in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine and its implications for the broader topics of nonabusive spanking and parental discipline. Unpublished document sent to FAMLYSCI listserve.

Larzelere, R. E. (Chair). (1997, August). Escalation processes within discipline incidents and their prevention. Symposium presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Chicago.

Larzelere, R. E., Larson, D. B., Sather, P. R., Schneider, W. N., & Pike, P. L. (1997, August). Conditions influencing reasoning’s effectiveness as a toddler discipline response. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Chicago.

Lyons, J. S., & Larzelere, R. E. (1996, August). Where is evidence that non-abusive corporal punishment increases aggression? Paper presented at the XXVI International Congress of Psychology, Montreal.

Sather, P. R., Larzelere, R. E., & Pike, P. L. (1994, August). Side effects of parental discipline responses to toddler misbehavior. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles.

Larzelere, R. E., Schneider, W. N., & Rose, A. N. (1988, August). The Discipline Record: Assessing parental discipline of toddlers. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Atlanta.

Some of these materials can be found at http://people.biola.edu/faculty/paulp/

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    Katharyn Gianandrea

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