14 DAY TRIAL // Entire generations of fathers may have been mislead in assuming that treating their children harshly would ensure they grow into tough men in return. This was common practice in the past, especially in the case of male children, who were thought from an early age to make do on their own, without asking for too much affection. But a new study shows that this approach may have not been effective in achieving its goal. The investigation revealed that children whose mothers show them affection while they are growing turn out to be very well equipped to handle life, PhysOrg reports.
Studying the influence of childhood experiences on one's adult life is something researchers find incredibly hard to do. Up until now, experts would only settle for asking participants about their infancy, and then relating the answers with current events. But this method is laden with errors, given that memories are unreliable, and childhood ones especially less so. So the team behind this particular study did the next best thing, and actually watched a study sample from the time they were children until they turned into adults. Details of their conclusions appear in the latest online issue of the esteemed Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
The research was carried out on a sample of 482 individuals, all of which were part of the National Collaborative Perinatal Project (NCPP) US Providence Rhode Island birth cohort. When these men and women were children, with an age of only 8 months, a psychologist was asked to rate them and their relationships with their parents. The expert applied a routine developmental assessment, and then questioned the parents about how they coped with their children's results. The mothers' reactions to their infant's performance was also gaged and recorded.
The research crew also noted and classified the amount of attention/affection the mother showed for her child, rating it with words ranging from “negative” to “extravagant.” When study participants turned 34, the research team conducted a new series of measurements, which was designed to assess the level of mental health these individuals had. The researchers focused on analyzing elements such as anxiety and hostility, and determined that children who had received a lot of affection were the least likely to exhibit such negative traits.