Raising the child: Repeated anger or shouting at children can affect their brains

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How “hard baby growth” can affect your child’s BRAIN: Annoying, hitting, or shouting at children can shrink their neural regions associated with anxiety and depression, the study warns

  • Scientists analyzed parenting practices and performed brain scans of children aged 2 to 9 years
  • Those subjected to “hard parents” had smaller tonsils and prefrontal cortices
  • These brain structures play a key role in emotional regulation and anxiety
  • Researchers hope the findings will encourage parents to implement less harsh measures when interacting with their children.

By Shivali Best for Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

A new study has warned that upsetting, hitting, shaking or repeatedly shouting at your child could affect the brain structures in adolescence.

The researchers found that children raised with “tough parents” developed smaller prefrontal cortices and the amygdala – two brain structures that play a key role in emotional regulation and the onset of anxiety and depression.

Worryingly, these harsh parenting practices are common and generally considered socially acceptable around the world, according to the team.

The researchers hope the findings will encourage parents to implement less harsh measures when interacting with their children.

A new study has warned that repeatedly getting angry, hitting, shaking or shouting at your child could affect the brain structures in adolescence.

A new study has warned that repeatedly getting angry, hitting, shaking or shouting at your child could affect the brain structures in adolescence.

What areas of the brain are affected?

The team used data from children who had been monitored at CHU Saint-Justine Hospital since they were born there in the early 2000s.

Parenting practices, children’s anxiety levels, and brain scans were assessed annually, while children ranged in age from two to nine years.

Worryingly, the results showed that children who were subjected to higher levels of parental growth developed smaller prefrontal cortices and the amygdala – two brain structures known to play a key role in emotional regulation and the onset of anxiety and depression.

In the study, researchers at the University of Montreal and Stanford University set out to analyze the effects of harsh parenting on children’s brains.

Dr. Sabrina Suffren, who led the study, said: “The implications outweigh the changes in the brain.

“I think the important thing is for parents and society to understand that the frequent use of harsh parenting practices can harm a child’s development.

“We’re talking about their social and emotional development, as well as their brain development.”

The team used data from children who had been monitored at CHU Saint-Justine Hospital since they were born there in the early 2000s.

Parenting practices, children’s anxiety levels, and brain scans were assessed annually, while children ranged in age from two to nine years.

Worryingly, the results showed that children who were subjected to higher levels of parental growth developed smaller prefrontal cortices and the amygdala – two brain structures known to play a key role in emotional regulation and the onset of anxiety and depression.

Dr. Suffren explained: “These discoveries are both significant and new.

Worryingly, the results showed that children who were subjected to higher levels of parental growth developed smaller prefrontal cortices and the amygdala - two brain structures known to play a key role in emotional regulation and the onset of anxiety and depression.

Worryingly, the results showed that children who were subjected to higher levels of parental growth developed smaller prefrontal cortices and the amygdala – two brain structures known to play a key role in emotional regulation and the onset of anxiety and depression.

“This is the first time that harsh parenting practices, which do not lead to serious abuse, are related to a decrease in the size of the brain structure, similar to what we see in victims of serious abuse.”

The researchers hope their findings will encourage parents to implement less severe parenting strategies.

In the UK, it is illegal for a parent or carer to hit their child unless it means a “reasonable punishment”.

Advice Law Law explained: “Whether a ‘smack’ amounts to a reasonable punishment will depend on the circumstances of each case, taking into account factors such as the child’s age and the nature of the smack.

“There are strict guidelines that cover the use of reasonable punishment and it will not be possible to rely on defense if you use severe physical punishment on your child, which means injury, actual personal injury, serious personal injury or cruelty to children.”

However, statistics published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) suggest that emotional abuse in families is still widespread in the UK.

The ONS explained: “The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimated that 1 in 11 adults aged 18 to 74 had experienced emotional abuse before the age of 16 (3.8 million people); this includes only authors 16 years of age or older.

“Abuse was most frequently committed by the child’s parents; about 5 out of 10 were abused by their mother, about 4 out of 10 were abused by their father. ‘

HELICOPTER PARENTS: A FORM OF OVERPROTECTIVE PARENTS

Superprotective parents are sometimes called “helicopter parents”.

They won this stereotype because they were perceived as constantly hovering over their children, trying to manage their business.

The first use of the term is widely attributed to Dr. Haim Ginott’s 1969 book, Parents & Teenagers.

In it, the teenagers said that their parents would place it above them like a helicopter.

The term became popular enough to become a dictionary entry in 2011.

Helicopter parents pay extreme attention to their children to try to protect them from failure, rejection and injury.

They want “happy” children and often believe that teachers should pay attention to their children in the same overprotective way.

This approach has caused controversy, with some experts arguing that in order for children to adapt well, they must experience a full range of emotions.

Parents who want their children to always be happy do their children a service from this perspective.

The “helicopter” parent is quick to help rather than allow the child to handle a difficult situation on their own.

Some experts say that this can lead to children not being able to cope with even minor problems, as they are never given the opportunity to fail and then learn from their mistakes.

However, some experts suggest that such “insistent” parents can provide children with benefits in later life.

Among them is Dr. Matthias Doepke, a professor of economics at Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University.

He argues that the intensity of parental growth has increased in many countries, in line with rising inequality.

Parents of strong “helicopters”, normally from more economically advantageous backgrounds, generally raise older offspring.

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