Table 1.
Demographic Characteristics of the Never-Spanked Group and the Spanked Group Before and After Propensity Score Matching (PSM)
| Variable | Before PSM |
After PSM |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Never spanked |
Spanked |
p | Spanked |
Spanked |
p | |
| ns = 2,478–2,491 | ns = 9,621–9,634 | ns = 2,469–2,488 | ns = 9,585–9,617 | |||
| Child characteristics | ||||||
| Age at spring of kindergarten (in months) | 74.62 (4.36) | 74.65 (4.44) | > .250 | 74.70 (4.26) | 74.72 (4.45) | > .250 |
| Proportion male | .50 | .52 | .044 | .52 | .52 | > .250 |
| Overall health | 1.71 (0.85) | 1.71 (0.84) | > .250 | 1.67 (0.82) | 1.66 (0.81) | > .250 |
| Proportion diagnosed with a disability | .16 | .15 | > .250 | .14 | .14 | > .250 |
| Externalizing behavior at age 5 years | 1.61 (0.62) | 1.70 (0.66) | < .001 | 1.65 (0.64) | 1.64 (0.62) | > .250 |
| Parent characteristics | ||||||
| Mother’s education (in years) | 14.89 (3.59) | 14.44 (3.43) | < .001 | 15.02 (3.59) | 14.94 (3.37) | > .250 |
| Mother’s age (in years) | 34.12 (6.51) | 32.92 (6.66) | < .001 | 33.76 (6.41) | 33.66 (6.43) | > .250 |
| Proportion of mothers born in U.S. | .82 | .84 | .098 | .82 | .83 | > .250 |
| Proportion of parents married | .71 | .67 | .015 | .74 | .75 | > .250 |
| Proportion of parents separated | .06 | .05 | .118 | .03 | .04 | .229 |
| Proportion of parents divorced | .09 | .09 | > .250 | .08 | .08 | > .250 |
| Proportion of parents widowed | .00 | .01 | .003 | .01 | .01 | > .250 |
| Proportion of parents never married | .11 | .15 | < .001 | .11 | .11 | > .250 |
| Proportion of parents who were nonbiological/adoptive | .03 | .03 | .010 | .02 | .02 | > .250 |
| Family economic status | ||||||
| Household size | 4.46 (1.37) | 4.51 (1.39) | .219 | 4.51 (1.38) | 4.51 (1.34) | > .250 |
| Proportion of mothers employed full time | .45 | .46 | > .250 | .46 | .46 | > .250 |
| Proportion of mothers employed part time | .24 | .21 | .003 | .22 | .23 | > .250 |
| Proportion of mothers unemployed | .31 | .33 | .066 | .32 | .332 | > .250 |
| Income (in thousands of dollars) | 54.18 (39.49) | 46.31 (35.58) | < .001 | 53.47 (38.00) | 52.35 (36.72) | .207 |
| Family food insecurity | 0.50 (1.60) | 0.73 (1.95) | < .001 | 0.54 (1.69) | 0.56 (1.72) | > .250 |
| Harshness of home environment | ||||||
| Parenting harshness | 0.19 (0.14) | 0.18 (0.15) | < .001 | 0.19 (0.14) | 0.19 (0.15) | > .250 |
| Low parenting warmth | 1.27 (0.37) | 1.31 (0.38) | < .001 | 1.32 (0.40) | 1.32 (0.38) | > .250 |
| Parenting stress | 1.54 (0.45) | 1.64 (0.48) | < .001 | 1.61 (0.48) | 1.61 (0.46) | > .250 |
| Intimate partner conflict | 0.49 (0.47) | 0.56 (0.49) | < .001 | 0.57 (0.50) | 0.55 (0.48) | .152 |
| Mother’s depressive symptoms | 1.43 (0.47) | 1.49 (0.47) | < .001 | 1.46 (0.49) | 1.45 (0.44) | > .250 |
| Cultural background | ||||||
| Proportion White | .63 | .56 | < .001 | .61 | .62 | > .250 |
| Proportion Black | .09 | .18 | < .001 | .12 | .12 | > .250 |
| Proportion Asian/other | .10 | .07 | < .001 | .10 | .10 | > .250 |
| Proportion Latino | .18 | .19 | > .250 | .17 | .17 | > .250 |
| Proportion who spoke English at home | .87 | .88 | .119 | .88 | .88 | > .250 |
| Mother’s religiosity | 2.83 (1.29) | 2.89 (1.34) | .044 | 2.96 (1.29) | 2.96 (1.31) | > .250 |
| Geographic characteristics | ||||||
| Proportion Northeast | .29 | .16 | < .001 | .17 | .17 | > .250 |
| Proportion Midwest | .27 | .22 | < .001 | .26 | .26 | > .250 |
| Proportion South | .24 | .40 | < .001 | .35 | .35 | > .250 |
| Proportion West | .20 | .22 | .011 | .22 | .22 | > .250 |
| Proportion city | .36 | .37 | > .250 | .37 | .37 | > .250 |
| Proportion suburb | .47 | .41 | < .001 | .40 | .38 | > .250 |
| Proportion town/rural | .17 | .22 | < .001 | .23 | .24 | .159 |
Note: Sample sizes varied across the 50 imputed data sets. The table presents means, unless otherwise indicated (standard deviations are given in parentheses); values were averaged across imputations.