Parents' harsher behavior towards children can make them aggressive: study

A new study has found that if parents are less affectionate and harsh towards their children, it can make them aggressive and anti-social. The results suggest that children become more aggressive due to less parental warmth and more severity at home. The lack of empathy and a moral compass, a set of features called ruthless traits.

Co-author Luke Hyde, an associate professor at the University of Michigan in the United States, is quoted as saying that the study convincingly demonstrated that parenting, not just genes, contributes to the development of traits without fear and without emotion. He also added that, identical twins having the same DNA, we can be more sure that the differences in parenting received by the twins affect the development of these traits.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. For the study, researchers used 227 pairs of identical twins.

To determine whether these differences predicted the likelihood of antisocial behavior, the team analyzed the small differences in parenthood experienced by each twin. To account for 35 traits related to aggression and UC traits, they also evaluated the behavior of the child by interviewing his mother.

The researchers found that twins were more likely to show aggression and UC traits than those who underwent stricter or harsher treatment and less emotional warmth from parents.

A subsequent adoption study of parents and unbound children biologically yielded consistent results.

Lead author Rebecca Waller, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania, reportedly said they could not blame genetics because they do not share genes with their parents. Waller added that he still did not exclude the possibility that the child's genetic characteristics elicit certain reactions from the adoptive parent.

The researchers noted that if the child never returns the favor to the child, a warm and positive parent may have difficulty maintaining these behaviors.

Posted: 14th October 2018 19:22