# Spanking and hitting children: Trends and changes in risk factors in consecutive, longitudinal, national samples of parents from 1993-2022

> **NIH NIH R03** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2022 · $91,467

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Corporal punishment (e.g., spanking) and physical abuse (e.g., hitting out of anger) are related to health and
developmental consequences for children, including mental health and substance use disorders. Knowledge of
current trends and risk factors for parental violence – including through the years of the COVID-19 pandemic –
is needed to inform policy and clinical practice, and is critical for understanding which families may benefit
most from targeted prevention efforts. Previous studies have been unable to provide this knowledge because
of limited longitudinal data and a predominant reliance on one-time cross-sectional surveys. Further, theory
and research over the past half-century has identified a wide range of risk factors for parental violence (e.g.,
substance use, previous experiences with violence, poor mental health), but no previous research has
examined whether risk factors for violence have changed over time. This R03 addresses these critical gaps
using untapped data from the NIH-funded Monitoring the Future (MTF) study. MTF is the only annually-
repeated survey with measures of spanking and hitting a child and, therefore, the only data available to answer
the questions proposed in this R03. The long-term goal of this research is to capitalize on existing investments
in the MTF study to inform and guide violence prevention efforts. The overall objectives in this study are to (1)
examine trends in parental violence, including through the COVID-19 pandemic, and (2) investigate whether
concurrent or prospective risk factors for parental violence have remained constant or changed across recent
decades, including during the pandemic. The total sample (n~19,300) will include parents from 30 consecutive
cohorts, followed longitudinally, who reached age 35 from 1993 (1st cohort) to 2022 (30th cohort). This R03
includes three aims: (Aim 1) Identify parental characteristics associated with the greatest risk for physical
violence toward children, using longitudinal regression and path models; (Aim 2) Examine the long-term trends
of parental violence, using Joinpoint models; and (Aim 3) Determine whether – and in what ways – risk factors
for violence have changed over time, using time-varying effect modeling (TVEM). The successful completion of
this R03 will contribute significantly to the field’s understanding of current trends and risk factors for spanking
and hitting children. This study addresses a critical need to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on
parental violence in the context of long-term trends. The inclusion of data through 2022 will enable examination
of changes in trends and risk factors associated with the pandemic. This study is novel in the use of
longitudinal data from annually repeated surveys containing parental violence measures and in the analytic
methods used. This study will generate knowledge that can immediately inform policy, clinical practice, and
prevention efforts in support of healthy child de...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10525984
- **Project number:** 1R03HD107135-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** Christopher J Mehus
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $91,467
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-08-01 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10525984

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10525984, Spanking and hitting children: Trends and changes in risk factors in consecutive, longitudinal, national samples of parents from 1993-2022 (1R03HD107135-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-03 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10525984. Licensed CC0.

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