Long-Term Effects of Child Rearing Practices
A child’s development and the adult that they ultimately become is dependent on many factors. Genetics, outside influences, family influences and child rearing practices all play an important role in development and adjustment. Experts believe that children’s emotional, cognitive and behavioral development is affected by the child rearing practices that their parents implemented. Parenting practices affect children long after they have grown up.
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Self Esteem
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Adults with low self esteem typically come from families without proper positive reinforcement. Self esteem begins to develop in middle childhood when children begin to compare themselves to their peers. Interactions between parent and child, and the child rearing practices parents implement, can have an effect on a child’s self esteem as they age. Encouraging parents who provide positive reinforcement, as opposed to negative consequences, tend to produce children with higher self esteem. These parents will also nurture their child’s natural talents and skills with the proper balance of help and support. However, parents who are negative in their tactics or put their children down will produce children with low self esteem. These parents are likely to ignore their child’s skills and talents or become overbearing in their efforts to help.
Overall Life Success
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Adults with the most life success come from families with authoritative parents. Authoritative parents produce healthy, well-adjusted children who are likely to grow into healthy, well-adjusted adults. These parents rear their children with a mixture of restrictiveness and autonomy. As they grow, children are given more independence, allowing them to develop a sense of self-reliance and self-assurance, skills that are crucial to overall life success. Authoritative parents provide the guidelines, standards and limitations that developing individuals need. Children of authoritative parents are likely to have bedtimes, consequences and restrictions on certain activities. However, authoritative parents will also allow room for exceptions and special circumstances.
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Ability to Have Relationships
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“Parent-child relationships are the earliest and most enduring of all interpersonal bonds,” according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. The relationship between parent and child will have an effect on future interpersonal relationships. The child rearing practices that a parent implements will have an impact on the kind of relationship a parent has with his child. Parents who provide the appropriate amount of balance and structure teach children how to be resilient to change and deal with their emotions, providing a solid foundation for future relationships. Parents who are overly permissive tend to produce children who cannot regulate their emotions, leading to difficult relationships, including promiscuity and risky behavior.
Mental and Emotional Health
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In the 1920s, the "no coddling" philosophy was developed, leading parents to believe that comforting a crying child would lead them to become spoiled. However, as far back as the Stone Age, our ancestors carried, cuddled and provided prompt responses to children when they cried, never leaving them to cry it out. Children during this era grew into happy, well-adjusted adults. Modern child rearing practices are a direct contradiction to ancient practices, resulting in people with poor social skills, a skewed sense of morality and adults who are less empathetic towards others. These modern practices have been associated with higher levels of anxiety, depression and mental health issues among adults.
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