Middle-class parents who shout
at their teenage children are increasing their risk of depression and troubled
behaviour.
Even if parents enjoy a close
relationship with their son and daughter, harsh verbal discipline was found
have a dramatic impact on their teens emotional development, a study found.
This form of discipline can vary
from yelling and shouting at a child, to swearing and using words to humiliate
them.
Scientists looked at 976
two-parent families in the US, the majority of which were middle-class.
They found that many shifted
from physical to verbal discipline as their children entered adolescence.
They also discovered that more
severe forms of harsh verbal discipline were commonplace, and directed at teens
in nearly half of households.
The researchers found if parents
use such punishment when their child is 13, the teen is more likely to have
behavioural or emotional problems later on.
These youngsters tended to
suffer more depressive symptoms between ages 13 and 14 than children who were
not disciplined in this manner, while they were also more likely to have
conduct problems such as misbehaving at school, lying, stealing, or fighting.
This is one of the first studies
to indicate that parents’ harsh verbal discipline is damaging to the developing
adolescent,’ said lead researcher Dr Ming-Te Wang, assistant professor of
psychology in education at the University of Pittsburgh.
The notion that harsh discipline
is without consequence, once there is a strong parent-child bond-that the
adolescent will understand that ‘they’re doing this because they love me’-is
misguided because parents’ warmth didn’t lessen the effects of harsh verbal
discipline.
Indeed, harsh verbal discipline
appears to be detrimental in all circumstances.’
Dailymail
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