Link between adult depression and being smacked as a child

Appreciate the thread has moved to a broader discussion but reviewing the article it doesn't appear the study has been peer-reviewed or passed anything but preliminary results; from an unknown but recognised Australian university. It could be substantiated but seems quick to be click bait by the publisher; let's see..
 


Gelan said:
I was smacked on a regular basis, my younger brother wasn't. He was better behaved than me in early life, I was better behaved in later life.

Animals smack their young...we still have those natural reactions, a ban on wanking wouldn't work either. Just to add that smacking is banned in many countries, but only government installed home cams in every room would guarantee that legislations success, and would we really want to go down that road?
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Legislation success isn't dependent on prosecuting every single instance of law-breaking. Do you think we shouldn't have speed limits?

Legislation changes are (or should be) to protect future generations from harm. This would send out the message that it is fundamentally wrong for adults to hit children. I hope a Labour government will bring this change in as Scotland and Wales have done before. Hopefully in years to come there will be fewer people who think it is OK for adults to hit children.
Scorer said:
Legislation doesn’t immediately stop behaviour, it puts a framework of consequences around it. Gradually that can change cultural norms but it doesn’t eradicate the issue or mean we need to monitor every human interaction in case it’s unlawful.
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Hadn't read this before I typed my response... but totally agree.
 
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safcforever said:
I don’t know how I feel about this. I don’t think there’s enough data.

I was smacked as a child, my depression (minor) is down to experiences I’ve had in my young adult life, not my childhood.

There’s so much they need to consider. First born, middle child etc. family values, religion, single parent. It’s almost impossible
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This, I was wolloped as a kid in the 80/90s so much so one of my mates witnessed it and later went f***ing hell your ma was punching you 🤣 but I also had the most loving of mam's too. I had really bad crippling depression as a young adult but I think that was health related largely. It might have played a tiny part but we always look to boil things down to one issue or label it when things especially like mental health is an absolute amalgamation of everything, hormones in young males play a huge part especially if they haven't got a partner men are wired differently in that regard.
 
I'll hold my hands up to having reaction slapped both my boys a couple of times (doing dangerous things) but I once read of a serial killer who butchered seven people but never hit his kids.
 
Gelan said:
I'll hold my hands up to having reaction slapped both my boys a couple of times (doing dangerous things) but I once read of a serial killer who butchered seven people but never hit his kids.
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Hitler was a vegetarian.

Adults hitting children is fundamentally wrong, always. I’m astounded so many people think it is OK. Cowards.
 
Kent_Mackem said:
Hitler was a vegetarian.

Adults hitting children is fundamentally wrong, always. I’m astounded so many people think it is OK. Cowards.
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Been done this road before . A child constantly grabbing at boiling pans... Said no, moved them away they persist.

Next time a tap to the back of the hand.. you would make that illegal
 
Mnemonic said:
Hitting kids is a sign of failing as a parent.
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Debbie: I saw your Jimmy run in the road today.
Amy: I know, he's a bit of a dare devil.
Debbie: He's 7 years old FFS! Don't you care?
Amy: Of course I do, but he's strong willed and just wont listen to me.
Debbie: A slap across the back of the legs might help.
Amy: I know, but I'd rather him be hit by a lorry than be thought of as a bad parent.
 
Gelan said:
Debbie: I saw your Jimmy run in the road today.
Amy: I know, he's a bit of a dare devil.
Debbie: He's 7 years old FFS! Don't you care?
Amy: Of course I do, but he's strong willed and just wont listen to me.
Debbie: A slap across the back of the legs might help.
Amy: I know, but I'd rather him be hit by a lorry than be thought of as a bad parent.
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A smack doesn’t often modify behaviour other than in that instant. For children there are much more meaningful consequences and physical intervention to protect life will always be covered by common law. It doesn’t need to be striking a child.
 
Gelan said:
Debbie: I saw your Jimmy run in the road today.
Amy: I know, he's a bit of a dare devil.
Debbie: He's 7 years old FFS! Don't you care?
Amy: Of course I do, but he's strong willed and just wont listen to me.
Debbie: A slap across the back of the legs might help.
Amy: I know, but I'd rather him be hit by a lorry than be thought of as a bad parent.
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Or you could educate him not to run in the road as opposed to beating him to not do it.

If you can't educate your kids, my point stands that it's a sign of failing.
 
Mnemonic said:
Or you could educate him not to run in the road as opposed to beating him to not do it.

If you can't educate your kids, my point stands that it's a sign of failing.
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Kids are very complicated creatures marra. You can sit the down and 'educate' them all you want but that won't stop them doing very silly things. Them still doing the very silly things certainly doesn't mean your failing of as a parent. That's a very simple way of looking at a very complex subject

I'm certainly not condoning hitting them but it's not a question if just educating them and all should be fine and if it's not it means your failing as a parent
 
Scorer said:
A smack doesn’t often modify behaviour other than in that instant. For children there are much more meaningful consequences and physical intervention to protect life will always be covered by common law. It doesn’t need to be striking a child.
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Yeah one of my cousins favourite sentences was 'well they won't do it again' when talking about smacking her kids. Except she seemed to have a new incident every week. Like they clearly aren't actually learning anything at all. The kids had major behavioural issues and CAMH's involvement and I never heard her once question her own parenting about this things
 
Epping said:
Been done this road before . A child constantly grabbing at boiling pans... Said no, moved them away they persist.

Next time a tap to the back of the hand.. you would make that illegal
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I think I've been clear about that.

There is no need to hit children. I have never hit children.

Perhaps the parents needs to think about why they are constantly grabbing the pans and ignoring the parent. Or why the boiling pans are in reach of a young child. etc
 
Violence towards children causes deep psychological issues that can continue throughout a persons life and impact the lives of their own children.

Don’t hit kids. You know what you are if you do. Look them in the eye when they get older and see what looks back at you.
 
Leaving aside the question of whether or not it is ethical for adults to hit children, as a parent of two children and as an owner of a well behaved large dog I firmly believe positive reinforcement works better than negative reinforcement. This belief has been strengthened further by seeing the results of our parish council's Road Safety projects where we have positively engaged with hauliers and other corporates with great success. Finally, as an Ed Psych, my other half would happily talk all evening about the proven merits of positive over negative reinforcement, but I haven't been awake enough to allow her too. :)

There are far better ways of teaching and disciplining children than hitting them.
 
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I was smacked as a child and I'm thoroughly f***ing depressed. Nowt to do with being smacked.

Never once even crossed my mind to smack my kids. Even where I've had a vein pulsing in my head like Homer because of them. It's a total sign of weakness. Of an inability to cope with emotions and think clearly on your actions.

I still recall the last smack my Dad gave me. When he was finished I looked at him and said "Is that it?". He laughed and knew that wasn't a punishment that was going to work any more. My Dad is the soundest bloke going btw. Just his generation thought that's how you punish kids. He was never doing it angrily though like people who do it these days. Anyone with young kids now should be fully aware smacking doesn't work.
 
Mnemonic said:
Hitting kids is a sign of failing as a parent.
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I agreee if it’s a constant theme, a raised tone or a look from a Dar should be enough to stop any kid dead in their tracks if they are being shits.

However so is the naughty step and time out. I can show you plenty of kids whose parents have been too soft with their kids and they have predictably turned into horrible bastards .
 
Scorer said:
A smack doesn’t often modify behaviour other than in that instant. For children there are much more meaningful consequences and physical intervention to protect life will always be covered by common law. It doesn’t need to be striking a child.
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Maybe a few on here have relationships where both partners sing from the same hymn sheet regarding discipline, but that is not always the case. I had genetically obedient kids, my partner and her two sisters were not and no punishment non physical ever worked, and that's by there own admission. When making laws we often view the majority and condemn the minority.
Mnemonic said:
Or you could educate him not to run in the road as opposed to beating him to not do it.

If you can't educate your kids, my point stands that it's a sign of failing.
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There are many others aspects of parenting that you may be shite at, but I doubt if you'd fess up to them. Life and kids are not a perfect science so no parents should take the higher ground except in extreme cases.
 
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