“I turned out fine”: An examination of the influence of parental punishment on perceptions of adult mental wellness
The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relation, if any, between receiving punishment during childhood and the perceptions of mental wellness in adulthood. This study fills a gap in the research by using adult participants and by including nonphysical punishment. Results did not find a statistically significant relation between receiving punishment during childhood and mental wellness in adulthood, as all groups (those who did receive punishment and those who did not) had some indication of general psychological distress. A notable finding of this study was that participants who received only nonphysical punishment during childhood were more likely to suffer from symptoms of psychopathology than those who only received physical punishment. A limitation of this study was the lack of demographic diversity amongst participants. However, this limitation inadvertently furthered the body of evidence on generational and regional gaps in mental wellbeing. Future research should aim to broaden participant demographics, specifically with age and residency.
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