Punishing children could impact family’s self-esteem

WASHINGTON - A new study from the University of Valencia (UV) has shown that punishment, deprivation and strict rules impact on a family’s self esteem.

The families were classified into one of four classic parental socialisation types - authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent and neglectful.

“The scores for children from indulgent families were the same, or even better, than those from authoritative families”, Fernando Garc�a, co-author of the study and a researcher at the UV, told SINC.

The results indicate that imposed discipline systems, such as punishments, deprivation and strict rules, which try to force children do things, have a knock-on effect on family self-esteem, and are associated with incomplete emotional development and a certain level of resentment towards the family.

The researchers highlight the need for parents to work hard “on aspects that are often not sufficiently addressed”, such as communication, polite relationships, showing an interest in children’s problems and giving reasoned explanations about the consequences of their actions.

The authoritarian model is similar to the authoritative one, in that it is demanding or controlling, but it differs in that the parents are less affectionate.

On the other hand there are parents who fall within the neglectful and indulgent models, which are characterised by applying low levels of repression.

The study has been published in the latest issue of the journal Infancia y Aprendizaje. (ANI)