Megan Patrick, PhD, a research professor in the Institute of Child Development and the Institute for Translational Research in Children’s Mental Health (ITR), was a co-author on a study published recently in JAMA Pediatrics demonstrating a significant decline in U.S. parents’ use of spanking to discipline children in the past 25 years. The study was featured by U.S. News, MinnPost, and CNN. Patrick co-authored the study with ITR Research Faculty Member Chris Mehus, PhD, LMFT.

The paper is based on data from the long-term Monitoring the Future study that has tracked the attitudes and behaviors of young adults since the 1970’s. In particular, it looked at 25 consecutive groups of people first surveyed as high school seniors and then reassessed 17 years later, around the age of 35. Among those with children age 2 to 12 living at home, the modeled number of parents who reported spanking a child decreased from 50% in 1993 to 35% in 2017.

Patrick is a co-investigator on the Monitoring the Future study. Her research focuses on the development and consequences of adolescent and young adult risk behaviors, including alcohol use, drug use, and risky sexual behaviors. Mehus is pursuing research to foster engagement in and create sustainable access to effective parenting interventions and support, with an emphasis on highly stressed families.