Children who have a loving relationship with their parents grow up to be kinder and more helpful to others, according to new research.
People who have a close bond with their parents at the age of three also tend to have fewer mental health problems during childhood and early adolescence, the study found.
But those who have strained or abusive relationships with their families are less likely to develop social traits such as empathy, generosity, kindness and helpfulness.
The findings strengthen the case for early intervention to support families where parents are struggling to develop close relationships with their children, perhaps as a result of financial pressure, according to the Cambridge University team who carried out the study.
Their analysis found that a child’s ‘prosocial’ tendencies – socially-desirably behavior such as kindness, empathy, helpfulness, generosity and volunteering – varied according to the environment they grow up in.
“A big influence appears to be our early relationship with our parents,” said Ioannis Katsantonis, lead author of the study, published in the International Journal of Behavioural Development.
“As children, we internalize those aspects of our relationships with parents that are characterized by emotion, care and warmth,” he added. “This affects our future disposition to be kind and helpful towards others.”
The study was based on questionnaires used as part of the Millennium Cohort Study, which has followed the progress of more than 10,000 people born in the U.K. between 2000 and 2002.
Researchers measured prosocial skills through the answers to questions such as whether a child would be helpful if someone was hurt, while the parent-child relationship was assessed through responses to questions such as whether children openly shared their feelings with their parents.
A further scale looked disciplinary practices, such as whether and how often parents smacked their child.
Analysis found a clear association between prosocial skills and the parent-child relationship: the closer a child was to their parents at age three, the more prosocial they were.
But children with emotionally strained or abusive relationships with their parents were less likely to develop prosocial habits.
The study also looked at how far mental health and prosocial behavior were fixed traits and how far they fluctuated due to changing circumstances.
Researchers found that children who exhibited higher than average mental health symptoms at an earlier age were less prosocial when they were older.
But while children who were more prosocial generally showed better mental health, there was no sign that their mental health improved as they got older.
The researchers suggest this indicates that efforts by schools to encourage prosocial behavior may be more effective if it is ingrained into the curriculum, rather than being part of time-limited interventions, such as anti-bullying weeks.
Children who had closer relationships with their parents at age three also tended to have better mental health in later childhood and adolescence, the study found.
The findings emphasize the importance of helping parents develop strong relationships with their children at an early age, Katsantonis said.
“So much of this comes back to parents,” he said. “How much they can spend time with their children and respond to their needs and emotions early in life matters enormously.”
“Some may need help learning how to do that, but we should not underestimate the importance of simply giving them time.”
But sparing sufficient time for children can be difficult for parents living in stressful circumstances, so policies that help ease this stress can enhance children’s mental health and develop skills such as helpfulness to others, he added.
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