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Corporal Punishment and Elevated Neural Response to Threat in Children
Author(s) -
Cuartas Jorge,
Weissman David G.,
Sheridan Margaret A.,
Lengua Liliana,
McLaughlin Katie A.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.13565
Subject(s) - spanking , psychology , corporal punishment , prefrontal cortex , anterior cingulate cortex , punishment (psychology) , developmental psychology , neuroscience , poison control , audiology , injury prevention , cognition , medicine , social psychology , environmental health
Spanking remains common around the world, despite evidence linking corporal punishment to detrimental child outcomes. This study tested whether children ( M age = 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.