One thing that can be hard to tease out in observational studies is correlation versus causation. Does spanking increase the bad behavior or is bad behavior mo

One thing that can be hard to tease out in observational studies is correlation versus causation. Does spanking increase the bad behavior or is bad behavior more likely to lead to spanking? One thing that could help make sense of this would be to look at non-violent punishments like “time out”. Does increased use of time outs also lead to bad behavior? If so, then one might consider that the punishment is correlation not causation.