by KYW's Michelle Durham

Several studies published by The Family Research Laboratory at The University of New Hampshire-Durham find that children whose parents spank or inflict physical punishment on them have a greater chance of engaging in risky sexual behavior later on.

Drexel University developmental psychologist Dr. Myrna Shure:

"There's a lot of research that indicates that spanking leads to the kind of behaviors in children that predict later risky behaviors of which sexual dysfunction and unsafe sex are included."

Dr. Shure wants to stress this doesn't apply to kids who are occasionally spanked, just those who are spanked all the time:

"...unsafe sex and the other kinds of sexual dysfunction are their way of getting back at the world." 

Dr. Shure says it's crucial that children feel safe enough to come to their parents with any problems -- and that only comes with open dialog. And she says that doesn't mean the parent doing all the talking and the child doing all the listening.