AI Insight
A study led by Penn State researchers found that children who experience harsh parenting, including physical or psychological aggression such as spanking or shouting, show disrupted development of stress self-regulation. While most toddlers naturally become less dependent on parental regulation as they grow into preschool age, harshly parented children exhibited the opposite pattern, requiring increasing external regulation over time. This developmental disruption was shown to negatively affect both the child and the mother.
Why it matters
These findings highlight the long-term developmental costs of aggressive parenting practices and may inform child-rearing guidelines, parental education programs, and early intervention strategies aimed at reducing harsh discipline.
As toddlers age into the preschool years, their dependency on their parents usually begins to ebb. However, a new study led by Penn State researchers has revealed that physically or psychologically aggressive parenting, such as spanking or shouting, can disrupt this pattern to the detriment of both child and mother, with the child requiring more external regulation, rather than less, as they age.
Source: Harshly parented children show poorer development of stress regulation