Glass is trusted to shape entire buildings that reach the sky, yet instills fear when it makes up something as simple as a cup, because one slip of the hand can shatter it to shards. Just like that glass, family can shape entire personalities or create cracks until the pieces that can’t be put together the same way again.
According to UC Davis Health, based on research, positive parenting leads to kids having stronger mental health, less behavioral issues, and also helps them perform better in school. It boosts their confidence and focus, makes them more positive, strengthens connections, improves their social skills, and contributes to better cognitive and emotional development. Neurologists even discovered that good parenting helps the parts of the brain linked to emotion and cognition, leading to improved function for teens. Furthermore, good parenting also helps with better wellness and relationships in the long-term when adulthood is reached.
Based on a Psychology House blog, emotionally supportive families create resilience and a sense of safety, which can lessen anxiety and stress in kids. But, an opposite environment can cause an opposite effect: mistrust, higher chances of developing mental health disorders (because of an overactive amygdala and an underdeveloped prefrontal cortex), loneliness, and having a hard time to control emotions. This includes a worse stress response. Communicating openly fosters problem-solving skills, but communicating with criticism or ignorance can harm self-esteem and cause anxiety or even depression in children. Family members who act as role models by encouraging healthy routines and habits positively influence other family members as well, while the opposite causes negative impact. Before the psychological benefits or issues that supportive or unsupportive families create, it all starts with changing and shaping the brain.
Sophomore Nur Elnour says, “I think supportive families can shape somebody’s personality and ability in a good way as it can make somebody more brave and more encouraged. Unsupportive families could damage somebody’s abilities and also their mental status.”
According to a Integrative Family Medicine of Iowa blog, based on a study, it was found that the hippocampus of the brain was 10 percent smaller in neglected children, and this part of the brain looks over learning, memory, and stress-control functions. Based on a WashU Medicine story by Jim Dryden, “School-age children whose mothers nurtured them psychologically early in life have brains with a larger hippocampus.” According to a PubMed Central (PMC) (.gov) article, increased positive maternal behavior during interactions with adolescents was associated with less volumetric growth in the right amygdala (fear center of brain). What’s more? This kind of positive parenting predicts the development of adolescents’ prefrontal cortex (part of the brain responsible for memory, learning, decision-making, etc.).
Sophomore Amna Rana remarks, “A supportive family provides their children a sense of comfort and motivation because of their loving support and stability that makes them feel cherished. Unsupportive families can demotivate young kids and make them feel unappreciated.”
There are many triggers behind the issues caused because of unsupportive families, including academic pressure, constant comparison between siblings, comparison to friends and other family members, unrealistic expectations, and the pressure to be perfect in every way.
That’s why families should see the glass from the other person’s hands, to see how close it is to slipping and how much strength it has to stay in one piece.
