Many US parents believe it is appropriate to spank their children when they misbehave. Straus and Stewart (as cited in Mulvaney & Mebert, 2007) found that “more than 90% of children and approximately 50% of adolescents have experienced corporal punishment at least once.” Some research on this topic has shown that corporal punishment can increase the amount of externalizing behaviors children display rather than decrease them. Other research on this topic has shown the opposite: corporal punishment may not always be harmful or may only be harmful when it is harsh and excessive. Researchers who found an increase in externalizing behavior hypothesized that children may model their parents' harsh behavior and therefore act out more after being spanked. They also hypothesized that spanking may teach children that physical aggression is an appropriate way to force others to comply with their desires. Another hypothesis often addressed in this research is whether race and ethnic group may have a moderating effect on the relationship between corporal punishment and increases in externalizing behavior. In an article focusing on the relationship between corporal punishment and children's externalizing behaviors, Lansford, Wager, Bates, Pettit, and Dodge (2012) reported the results of their experiment on the frequency and severity of spanking and the effects of such punishments. Lansford et al. considered “externalizing behavior” to mean behavior deemed inappropriate by parents or authority figures and/or behavior of a challenging, delinquent, or noncompliant nature. They considered "corporal punishment" to be the use of physical force to inflict pain on the child, but not to hurt the child in order to change the child... middle of paper... spanking in a year eventually increasing to harder spanking in next year. They found that, compared to the no-spanking group, light spanking led to a 50% increased risk of harsher spanking the following year. In a study conducted by Grogan-Kaylor (2004), researchers examined the relationship between corporal punishment and antisocial behavior. behavior by analyzing data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). Their goal was to use stronger statistical controls than previous researchers have used to analyze this data. They also wanted to examine whether the effect of corporal punishment on children's antisocial behavior depended on the frequency of corporal punishment. Their last major hypothesis was to find out whether the race or ethnic group of the parent and child influenced the impact that corporal punishment had on the child's behavior..