How Can Parental Negativity Affect Children

Parenting is not an easy task, even when you are in the best of your times. It is very tough even for the ultimate optimistic person to keep smiling and be cheerful all the time. Everyone has their own bouts of negativity. You might feel low so much that you will not even be able to assess the damage the situation is causing to your near and dear ones. However, when your negativity extends beyond a certain levels, it leaves detrimental effects on your children.

Wondering how? Check out right below…

Parental Negativity

  1. Low levels of self esteem

According to various studies, children with highly negative parents are known to possess extremely low levels of self esteem. Lack of self esteem is a major obstacle when it comes to facing the challenges of the world. The child will always feel safe in their comfort zones and even come up with excuses for not stepping out. They will develop pervasive negative thought patterns, anxiety disorders, and even depression. According to Journal of Personality, children who parents had negative interactions of parents possessed unstable self-esteem.

  1. The child becomes highly depressed

Since the children consider parents as their role models, they also showcase negative behaviors of the parents as they grow up. Studies suggest that growing up with parents who have high levels of negativity pushes a child into developing intense mood disorders including extreme levels of depression, posing cognitive risks in future.

  1. Higher risk of developing anxiety disorders

While all the children experience anxiety disorders some or the other time, those with negative parents display it in higher frequencies. According to a study that came in Behaviour Research and Therapy in 2001, children of anxious mothers were found to display more apprehension and fear than others. These mothers were the ones who interfered too much in their child’s life.

  1. More chances of developing antisocial behaviors

According to a study that was published in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology in 2008, the negativity of parents quite often pushed kids into developing antisocial behaviors at a very early age. Kids start displaying the conduct disorder at a very young age in the form of bullying, frequent bunking of classes, frequent angry outbursts, or even causing damages to property.

  1. Coping skills are very pathetic

If parents possess poor anger management skills, your kid will also develop the same, only to worsen your crisis. Studies suggest that people with poor conflict resolution and anger management skills are poor models for children. This, on the other hand, leaves the kids with pathetic coping skills when they are frustrated, disappointed, or angry. And, poor coping skills are one of the key factors in degrading the physical health of the kids.

  1. Poor academic performances

Negative attitude of parents, their poor life skills, and inability to understand the situations and resolve them have a very bad impact on the kids. There are loads and loads of evidences available that substantiate the harsh impact of parental negativities of kids and their academic performances. According to the studies, parents who are harsh and inattentive, generally fail to create a friendly atmosphere at home, forcing the kid to put up a poor performance at academic level.

Parenting is never a bed of roses and is filled with just sunshine alone. There are thorns and thunderclouds that you would notice every now and then. The keynote is to ensure that your kid is shielded properly from your negative behaviors so that her future is bright and glowing. Work on yourself and try to bring in changes. If you are not able to do it yourself, then ask for professional help, but ensure your child is safe.