[8][9][10] Baumrind defined three parenting styles: Baumrind studied the effects of corporal punishment on children, and concluded that mild spanking, in the context of an authoritative (not authoritarian) parenting style, is unlikely to have a significant detrimental effect, if one is careful to control for other variables such as socioeconomic status.

[11] She observed that previous studies demonstrating a correlation between corporal punishment and bad outcomes failed to control for variables such as socioeconomic status.

But Baumrind believed that when appropriate controls are made for family income and other independent variables, mild corporal punishment per se does not increase the likelihood of bad outcomes.

[12] This assertion has in turn attracted criticism and counterpoints from other researchers in the same publication, for example: Whether harmful or not, there is still no consistent evidence of beneficial effects.

[13] She was influenced in her studies by Theodor Adorno, Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Egon Brunswik, and David Krech[2] Baumrind died in September 2018 following a car accident.