Parents who believe in “spare the rod, spoil the child” might be setting their children up to become violent toward future partners, according to a study published Tuesday in the Journal of Pediatrics.

“We asked 758 kids between 19 and 20 years old how often they had been spanked, slapped or struck with an object as form of punishment when they were younger,” said the study’s lead author, Jeff Temple, an associate professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch. “Kids who said they had experienced corporal punishment were more likely to have recently committed dating violence.”

This result, he said, held up even when contributing factors such as sex, age, parental education, ethnicity and childhood abuse were controlled.