Dominant parents affect kids’ self-worth

Study shows how dominant parents affect kids' self-worth. Children's self-esteem is linked to the behaviour of who is considered the most powerful parent within the household, new University of Sussex research suggests. The study of English and Indian families living in Britain is the first to assess the impact on a child's wellbeing of the household power structures that exist within different cultures. Psychologists ed 125 English and Indian families living in West London. They found that English children whose mothers displayed more negative parenting traits - such as detachment, intrusiveness, lax enforcement of discipline, and controlling behaviour - reported lower self-esteem. But, for Indian children, the father's behaviour had more of an impact. In Indian culture, as often characterises more traditional cultures, mothers have inferior positions to fathers, both within and outside the household.