science

The UCL study also found physically punished children were more likely to struggle in school

The study, using data from 19,000 children born in the UK in the early 2000s, also found that teenagers experiencing physical punishment in early childhood were markedly more likely to bully siblings and others or engage in cyberbullying.

The effects of smacking appeared most immediately in behaviour problems among infants, while repeated experience of physical punishment at ages three, five and seven was associated with lower literacy.

Link to the study