A new study suggests that bad parenting can be passed on to the next generations in the family. The researchers found out that the more unpleasant the parent's childhood was, the more likely their children's will be troubled too.
Positive reinforcement is a cornerstone of parenting, but a new study shows it can have the opposite effect: https://t.co/5vbqeLPDzy
— Psychology Today (@PsychToday) May 1, 2016
It All Comes Down To The Parents
According to NBC News, a new study suggests that poor parenting can be a trend within the family, passing on to generations to come. Examples of such are spanking and beating, said Marie Conn, a researcher at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
"Parents with multiple adverse events were more likely to value corporal punishment," she told NBC News. A study published last week found that even gentle spanking, even with an open hand, can have an adverse effect that can result to kids misbehaving. However, most parents still tremendously believe kids can benefit from a good spanking.
Parents With Adverse Experiences
Researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center interviewed 62 parents of young children. The team intended to find out how their participants' upbringing may have determined their own way of parenting their kids.
"We found that 91 percent of parents had at least one adverse childhood experience while 45 percent had four or more," Conn said. "And among their young children, 72 percent had already experienced at least one adverse childhood experience."
The kids of those belonging to 45 percent of the group have the highest chances of experiencing poor parenting. When parents had four or more bad experiences, their children are six times more likely to show signs of emotional or social problems.
Intervention Of Pediatricians
"It's hard to break patterns of behavior. You were brought up in an adverse environment and that is what you know," Conn said. Like or not, children unintentionally pick up a thing or two about their parent's style of parenting, The Loop reports.
According to the study, very outdated practices such as picking up a crying baby is detrimental to spoiling the child or little boys shouldn't cry, are still passed on to the younger generations. The list of bad parenting goes on.
Conn believes that pediatricians can ask parents about some of these attitudes when they bring their children for appointments. Pediatricians are in a unique position to ask parents about how they raise their kids and be able to advise them on how to change the bad ones. Parents are eager for guidance, especially one coming from their trusted paediatricians.
Do you agree with the findings of the study? Let us know through your comments. Check out this video of parents gone wild. Please do not be like them.
