Parenting: Repeatedly getting angry or shouting at children can affect their brain – Daily Mail

Repeatedly getting angry, hitting, shaking or shouting at your child could affect their brain structures in adolescence, a new study has warned.

Researchers found that children raised with ‘harsh parenting’ developed smaller prefrontal cortexes and amygdala – two brain structures that play a key role in emotional regulation and the emergence 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.

In the study, researchers from the University of Montreal and Stanford University aimed to look at the effects of harsh parenting on children’s brains.

Dr Sabrina Suffren, who led the study, said: ‘The implications go beyond changes in the brain. 

‘I think what’s important 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 the CHU Saint-Justine hospital since being born there in the early 2000s.

Parenting practices, child anxiety levels and brain scans were evaluated annually while the children were aged between two and nine.

Worryingly, the results revealed that children who were subject to higher levels of harsh parenting developed smaller prefrontal cortexes and amygdala – two brain structures known to play a key role in emotional regulation, and the emergence of anxiety and depression.

Dr Suffren explained: ‘These findings are both significant and new.

‘It’s the first time that harsh parenting practices that fall short of serious abuse have been linked to decreased brain structure size, similar to what we see in victims of serious acts of abuse.’

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

In the UK, it is unlawful for a parent or carer to smack their child, except where this amounts to ‘reasonable punishment’.

Child Law Advice explained: ‘Whether a “smack” amounts to reasonable punishment will depend on the circumstances of each case, taking into consideration factors like the age of the child and the nature of the smack.

‘There are strict guidelines covering the use of reasonable punishment and it will not be possible to rely on the defence if you use severe physical punishment on your child which amounts to wounding, actual bodily harm, grievous bodily harm or child cruelty.’

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

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

‘The abuse was most commonly perpetrated by the child’s parent(s); around 5 in 10 were abused by their mother, around 4 in 10 were abused by their father.’