New research links smacking children as physical punishment to mental health issues.

Smacking is now illegal in 62 countries around the world, including Wales and Scotland, and one Australian university has now linked the practice to serious mental health problems in young adults.

Parents may be prohibited from using physical punishment after researchers linked smacking to an increase in mental health problems in early adulthood.

According to an Australian Catholic University study, six out of every ten subjects in an 8,500-person sample reported being hit at least four times during their childhood.

The study, which included respondents aged 16 to 24, discovered that girls who were smacked as children were 1.8 times more likely to develop a major depressive disorder.

They were also 2.1 times more likely to be anxious than their non-smacked peers.

Young men reported similar issues, with physical punishment making them nearly twice as likely to develop depression and anxiety as children.

Professor Daryl Higgins of Australian Catholic University is now calling for smacking to be banned after discovering that corporal punishment can cause serious mental health problems.

Different states in Australia, where the practice is still legal, have their own rules for what is considered lawful when disciplining children.

In New South Wales, the punishment must not cause pain for more than a brief moment and must avoid the neck or head, whereas in Victoria, the strike must be “reasonable under the circumstances” but still legal.