Harsh discipline increases risk of children developing lasting mental health problems

Parents who frequently exercise harsh discipline with young children are putting them at significantly greater risk of developing lasting mental health problems, new evidence shows. Avoiding a hostile emotional climate at home won't necessarily prevent poor mental health outcomes from occurring, but it will probably help Ioannis Katsantonis In a study of over 7,500 Irish children, researchers at the University of Cambridge and University College Dublin found that children exposed to -hostile- parenting at age three were 1.5 times likelier than their peers to have mental health symptoms which qualified as -high risk- by age nine. Hostile parenting involves frequent harsh treatment and discipline and can be physical or psychological. It may, for example, involve shouting at children regularly, routine physical punishment, isolating children when they misbehave, damaging their self-esteem, or punishing children depending on the parent's mood. The researchers charted children's mental health symptoms at ages three, five and nine. They studied both internalising mental health symptoms (such as anxiety and social withdrawal) and externalising symptoms (such as impulsive and aggressive behaviour, and hyperactivity). About 10% of the children were found to be in a high-risk band for poor mental health.