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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Experts have assessed anxiety levels in children who had been exposed to harsh parenting techniques.
Children who are regularly yelled at, punched, or shaken may develop a smaller brain as a teenager.
Difficult parenting techniques have been put under a microscope in a new study to determine if there is a link between this type of behavior and a child’s development. In many places around the world, harsh parenting is okay, but experts believe it can have a serious impact on young people.
“The implications go beyond changes in the brain,” said Sabrina Suffren, Ph.D., lead author of the study, at the University of Montreal and the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center. “I think what’s important is for parents and society to understand that frequent use of harsh parenting can be harmful to a child’s development.
“We’re talking about their social and emotional development, as well as their brain development.”
Previous studies have shown that sexual and emotional abuse, as well as neglect, have been linked to depression and anxiety later in life. Children who experience these types of abuse have been shown to have smaller prefrontal cortex and tonsil, both of which play important roles in regulating emotions, anxiety, and depression.
This new research also concluded that these areas of the brain were smaller in adolescents who had been subjected to harsh parenting practices as children.
We are talking about their social and emotional development, as well as their brain development.
–Sabrina Suffren, Ph.D., at Université de Montréal and the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center
“These findings are both important and new. This is the first time that harsh parenting that is not serious abuse has been linked to a decrease in the size of the brain structure, similar to what we are seeing in children. victims of serious acts of abuse, ”Suffren added.
The study assessed the anxiety levels of children aged 2 to 9 each year, and the children were then divided into groups based on their exposure to severe parenting. Anxiety levels were analyzed again when the children were between 12 and 16 years old, and anatomical MRIs were also performed.
The research was conducted in partnership with researchers at Stanford University and has been published in the journal Development and Psychology.
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