Spanking children may do more than affect their self-esteem; it could also affect their sex lives, say researchers from the University of New Hampshire. Kids who were physically disciplined are more likely as adults to coerce partners to have sex, have unprotected sex and partake in painful and humiliating sex.
While past studies have found a link between spankings leading to adult abuse, this is the first one that has found a troubling connection with sex. “My underlying motive was to bring this to the attention of parents and of more people,” says Professor Murray Straus, the study’s lead author. “In the hope it will help continue the decrease in the use of corporal punishment.”
