A UT study suggests that communicating with children positively after spanking them can cause them to exhibit depressive symptoms. The report, which was featured in this Wired magazine article, was published recently in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health journal. The study was done by Paula Fite, former assistant professor of psychology, and Amber Wimsatt and Jamie Rathert, both graduate students in psychology. The study posits that having a parent who is the source of both stress and comfort may confuse children.