A great deal of research has revealed a link between corporal punishment and negative life outcomes, but the underlying mechanisms that explain how and why these associations exist are not well understood. The current study extends this line of research by analyzing a longitudinal sample of high-risk male and female youth drawn from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being. The analyses revealed that the use of corporal punishment was differentially used depending on certain parental behavioral characteristics. Even after accounting for such attributes, our models generally demonstrated that corporal punishment was associated with later criminal involvement. The models also revealed that the corporal punishment-criminal involvement link was dependent upon the relationship of the parent to the child being spanked. Our analyses additionally address the importance of proper model specification when examining the association between corporal punishment and later life outcomes. We conclude by discussing implications for future research.
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