How to get your kids to listen to (and to actually do) what you say is one of the most frustrating and difficult parts of being a parent. A new study, published this month in the journal Pediatrics, has shed some light on trends in how parents are choosing to discipline their children these days. The researchers found that nonviolent forms of punishment are on the rise, and that the use of spanking and hitting as discipline has decreased.
为人父母，如何让孩子们听自己的话，并按照自己的意思办事是最让人沮丧、最困难的地方。本月在《儿科》杂志上刊出的一项新研究揭示了一些趋势，即如今的父母是如何选择管教自己孩子的趋势。研究人员们发现非暴力的惩罚形式越来越多，而通过打骂进行管教孩子的行为越来越少。
For the study, researchers looked at four national surveys, spanning 23 years of data, and found that, in 1988, 46% of mothers in middle-class families (which the researchers defined as those living in the 50th income percentile) said they used spanking as discipline. By 2011, that number had dropped to 21%.
为了这项研究，研究人员们对涵盖了23年数据的4项国家研究进行了调查，并且发现在1988年中产阶级家庭（研究员们指的是那些收入百分数排在第50位的家庭）中，46%的母亲说她们会打孩子以让他们听话。到2011年，这一数字降低到了21%。
When looking at all socioeconomic groups of mothers, the researchers found that spanking was found to be on the decline in general. However, among mothers in the lowest income percentile, one third said they spank their kids.
当观察处于各类社会经济群体的母亲时，研究人员们发现：整体来说，打孩子的趋势有所下降。然而，在最低收入家庭中，三分之一的母亲们说自己还是会打小孩。
The researchers called this finding "alarming" for several reasons. Besides the risk of serious injury, corporal punishment has been found to have negative emotional effects on children, and it can lead to physical abuse in some cases. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises against using spanking or hitting as a form of discipline.
研究人员们认为此次研究结果“令人震惊”，这是由好几个原因造成的。除了严重受伤的风险外，人们已发现体罚会对孩子产生消极的情感影响，在一些情况下，会造成肉体虐待。美国儿科学会不建议使用体罚作为管教孩子的方式。
The fact that lower-income women often reported resorting to spanking reflects a lack of resources more than anything else, the researchers say. Not all parents have access to or are aware of the AAP's approved guidelines for effective discipline. A 1996 study found that the majority of parents who spank their children do so when they're stressed or angry — and they feel remorse afterward. In other words, spanking is rarely a thoughtful, pre-planned form of discipline — more often than not, parents resort to it when they're out of options.
研究人员们说到，总是会有报道爆出低收入家庭体罚孩子的事实，这反映了资源最为紧缺的情况。并非所有的父母都能获得或了解美国儿科学会赞成的有效管教指导原则。1996年的一项研究发现大多数父母会在自己受到压力或感到愤怒时体罚孩子——事后会感到后悔。换句话说，打孩子并非是一种深思熟虑的、预先计划好的管教方式——父母们选择这种方式往往是因为别无他选。
The researchers acknowledged that the stigma around spanking could be what's really driving the results. Fearing judgment, some parents may have simply reported they don't resort to spanking their children when, in reality, they still do. "What people say they do and what they actually do are two different things," psychology professor Christopher Ferguson.
研究员们承认关于体罚的耻辱感可能是真正推动研究结果的因素。有些父母可能害怕别人对其指指点点，所以会声称自己不打孩子，而实际生活中他们仍会打孩子。“人们说自己在做的事与他们实际做的事是完全不一样的，”心理学家克里斯托弗•弗格森说道。
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