A new study, published in the journal ‘Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging’, has found that corporal punishment might impact neural systems to produce adverse effects in children. They noticed a decline in adolescent health and negative effects on behaviour, including an increased risk for anxiety and depression. Say the researchers, corporal punishment alters specific neurodevelopmental pathways that increase risk for anxiety and depression by making children hypersensitive to their own mistakes and less reactive to rewards and other positive events in their environment. The work provides new clues as to the neural underpinnings of depression and anxiety and could help guide interventions for at-risk youth.
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