Four studies by the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire-Durham, suggests that children whose parents spanked, slapped, hit or threw objects at them may have a greater chance of physically or verbally coercing a sexual partner, engaging in risky sexual behavior or engaging in masochistic sex, including sexual arousal by spanking. Elizabeth Gershoff, an assistant professor of social work at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, who reviewed 80 years of spanking research says that though many children have been spanked (85% in one 2007 survey), problems may depend on how they process the spanking. This information isn't without its retractors, however. Linking sexual problems with spanking is a "big leap," says human-sexuality researcher John DeLamater of the University of Wisconsin. Find more at USA Today.

Perhaps this is a subject for us to cover in our Sex channel. What do you think?

Labels: parenting, sex, study