According to a new study, a loving parent-child bond during children's early life could boost their tendencies to become prosocial and to behave kindly and empathetic with others.
Loving Parent-Child Bond and Prosocial Behavior
The study covered data from over 10,000 people who were born in 2000 to 2002. The data was examined to look into the long-term link between early parent-child relationships, mental health, and prosociality. This study serves as one of the first to examine the interactions of these facets in prolonged periods that cover both childhood and adolescence.
The authors discovered that those children who had loving and warm connections with their parents when they were three years old tended to have fewer mental health concerns during their adolescent and early childhood years. More than that, they also discovered that these children had boosted tendencies for prosociality. These tendencies involve behaviors that are socially desirable and that are meant to benefit others. Empathy, kindness, generosity, volunteering, and helpfulness all fall under this category.
Though prosociality and early parent-child bond require further verification through further study, the study notes a remarkable association. Interestingly, the study found that on average, every standard unit that went beyond the normal parent-child closeness levels, prosociality went higher by 0.24 standard units during adolescence.
On the other hand, children who experienced abusive or emotionally strained parent-child relationships were less likely to have prosocial behavior as time passed.
The study also looked into the fixedness of prosocial behavior and mental health among young people and the fluctuation extent of these aspects across circumstances. The researchers looked into prosociality and mental health at the ages 5, 6, 11, 14 and 17 in order to come up with a full picture of these characteristics and their interactions.
Researchers discovered some evidence of a connection between prosociality and mental health problems. Most notably, children with higher-than-average externalizing mental health symptoms at younger ages displayed less-than-usual prosociality later on. Whether the reverse applied was not clear.
Children that had closer parent-child relationships at three years old also had a lower tendency of having poor mental health during adolescence and late childhood.
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Study Implications
The study suggests the further strengthening of efforts to come up with specific policies and support systems for families for them to establish better parent-child relationships. In such cases, these efforts may not always be straightforward. For instance, parents who are busy dealing with work and financial stresses may not have much time for this.
It also primarily stresses the importance of nurturing strong parent-child relationships during the early years. This relationship is widely seen to be critical when it comes to supporting a child's development in other aspects. The time parents spend with their children and how they tend to their children's emotions and needs are of tremendous value.
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