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Corporal Punishment and Elevated Neural Response to Threat in Children.

Corporal Punishment and Elevated Neural Response to Threat in Children.

Authors :
Cuartas J
Weissman DG
Sheridan MA
Lengua L
McLaughlin KA
Source :
Child development [Child Dev] 2021 May; Vol. 92 (3), pp. 821-832. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Apr 09.
Publication Year :
2021

Abstract

Spanking remains common around the world, despite evidence linking corporal punishment to detrimental child outcomes. This study tested whether children (M <subscript>age</subscript>  = 11.60) who were spanked (N = 40) exhibited altered neural function in response to stimuli that suggest the presence of an environmental threat compared to children who were not spanked (N = 107). Children who were spanked exhibited greater activation in multiple regions of the medial and lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), including dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, dorsomedial PFC, bilateral frontal pole, and left middle frontal gyrus in response to fearful relative to neutral faces compared to children who were not spanked. These findings suggest that spanking may alter neural responses to environmental threats in a manner similar to more severe forms of maltreatment.<br /> (© 2021 The Authors. Child Development © 2021 Society for Research in Child Development.)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1467-8624
Volume :
92
Issue :
3
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Child development
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
33835477
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13565