Anyone who sees children running around in restaurants sometimes sighs: can’t they raise their offspring more strictly? The answer is: no, better not.
Parents who treat their children hard at a young age increase the chance that they will develop psychological problems, it appears new research among more than 7500 Irish children. ‘Hostile parenting’ in toddlers aged 3 led to a one and a half times greater risk of psychological problems at age 9.
Shout and punish
But what exactly is “hostile parenting”? The researchers describe it as a heavy-handed treatment with a lot of discipline. That can be physical or psychological. For example, parents regularly yell at their children or sometimes hand out physical punishment. They isolate children when they misbehave, damage their self-esteem or punish them in unpredictable ways, depending on the mood.
Anxious or aggressive
The researchers of Cambridge in University College Dublin recorded the children’s psychological problems when they were 3, 5 and 9 years old. In doing so, they pay attention to internalizing symptoms, such as anxiety and withdrawn behavior, and externalizing symptoms, such as impulsive, aggressive, or hyperactive behavior. About 10 percent of the children were in the high-risk group for psychological problems. This included a disproportionate number of children experiencing hostile parenting.
Not all-important
The researchers want to emphasize that the parenting style is not everything. Children’s mental health is determined by multiple risk factors, including gender, physical health, and socioeconomic status. But if, for example, teachers at school notice that a child is not feeling well, they could be alert to the possible influence of the parenting style and talk to the parents about it, the researchers say.
“The fact that 10 percent of children are at risk for mental health problems is a major concern and we need to be aware of the role that parenting style plays,” said researcher Ioannis Katsantonis of the University of Cambridge. “We’re certainly not saying parents shouldn’t set clear boundaries, but it’s hard to justify regular harsh discipline given the mental health implications.”
Warm and positive
UCD researcher Jennifer Symonds added: “Our findings underscore the importance of a warm and positive upbringing, especially when there are other circumstances that put children at risk for poor mental health. Avoiding a hostile emotional climate at home won’t completely prevent the problems, but it will probably help.”
The researchers had access to data from the large longitudinal study ‘Growing up in Ireland’ in which more than 7500 children and young people participate. Based on completed questionnaires, the children were given a score of 0 to 10 for externalizing and internalizing symptoms at ages 3, 5, and 9 years. After further investigation, the parents were classified according to three parenting styles: warm parenting (supportive and attentive to the child’s needs), consistent (with clear expectations and rules), and hostile.
The latter parenting style made children one and a half times more likely to end up in the high-risk group for mental problems. Consistent and warm parenting did not have that effect, possibly due to other factors.
Girls
Previous research has already pointed to the importance of these other factors, which have also been confirmed in this study. For example, girls are more often in the high-risk group than boys. Children who grow up with one parent are also 1.4 times more at risk and if the parents have a higher income, their children are less likely to have psychological problems.
Katsantonis states that it is important to detect these risk groups early and to guide the parents. “That guidance can be as simple as providing clear information about how best to deal with certain behavior of young children in different situations. There is a clear danger that the parenting style can exacerbate psychological problems. And it is something that we can do something about very easily,” it concludes.