Spanked dads less likely to hit own kids

NEW YORK: Fathers who were spanked as children are less likely to spank their own children than mothers who were spanked while young, according to a US study.

Researchers from Ohio State University set out to see if 1990s parents followed the practices of their own mothers but found parents today were showing a lot more affection to their children, reading to them more and spanking them less.

"We were surprised that mothers seem to learn a lot about the parenting role from their own mothers, but fathers don't follow their mothers as much," said researcher Jonathan Vespa in a statement.