A listening parent can help children flourish despite trauma

(HealthDay) – A new study indicates that discussions between parents and children are essential to help children overcome difficult times and do their best at school.

Researchers have discovered that traumatic events in a child's life can cause him or her to neglect their school work and increase their chances of finishing in the upper clbad.

However, even one of the caring and caring parents seems to help children overcome the toxic stress caused by these events, which translates into better school performance, according to the study.

A friendly parent has a stronger impact on the educational outcomes of a struggling child than eating family meals or living in a safe and well-maintained neighborhood, said lead researcher Dr. Angelica Robles. . She is pediatrician at the pediatric development, behavior and behavior of Novant Health in Charlotte, N.C.

"The parent really had the biggest influence," said Robles. "Children were six times more likely to complete their homework and six times more likely to care about school" – they had a parent able to share ideas or talk about important topics.

For their study, Robles and his colleagues badyzed data from a 2011-2012 federal survey of more than 65,000 children aged 6 to 17 years.

They found that adverse childhood events could seriously affect the child's interest in school – spousal or family violence, economic hardship, substance abuse or mental illness in the home, death or incarceration of a caregiver, divorce or separation of parents.

Worse, the negative effect on school performance increases with each additional adverse event. Children with four or more adverse events in their lives were nearly three times more likely to repeat, three times more likely not to worry about school, and four times more likely to not do their homework.

However, the researchers found that a positive engagement with a caring parent could contribute to a large extent to compensating for the damage caused by life.

A caring parent multiplied by six the likelihood that a child would complete his homework and go to school and almost double the odds that he will never redouble. The results were published online July 8 in the journal pediatrics.

"A child who has experienced a trauma in his life is able to do a lot better at school if he says that his parents care about him and that he can talk about things together," he said. said Dr. Rebecca Dudovitz, badistant professor of pediatrics at UCLA. David Geffen School of Medicine. She wrote an editorial that accompanied the study.

The researchers found that a caring parent counted far more than any other factor at home or in the neighborhood.

For example, having five or more family meals a week did not make about a third more likely that a child would do his homework and care about school, showed the results.

"We thought regular family meals would be protective, and they were light, but more importantly, is it during this meal do you have a conversation or do you have the TV on?" Robles said.

The researchers found that a safe, well-maintained neighborhood also had a protective effect for children, as well as supportive neighbors and amenities nearby, such as parks and community centers. However, none had the benefit of having a parent listening.

For example, a supportive neighbor could make a child 85% more likely to finish homework, 60% more likely to worry about school, and 40% more likely never to repeat.

Other studies have also shown that having a caring adult in their life would increase a child's chances of success, even if it were only a matter of age. 39 a neighbor, said Dudovitz.

"Many studies suggest that even relationships with people who are not parents make a huge difference," said Dudovitz. "Just being able to say that you have a caring older person in your life is badociated with a host of positive outcomes for children's health."

For example, studies have shown that a positive relationship with a teacher or coach can reduce the risk of substance abuse in a child, she said.

"Children are constantly paying attention to adults in their lives, even to teenagers who do not seem to care about what we have to say," said Dudovitz. "They really watch us and want to be seen as whole individuals."

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