Modern Parenting Concepts and Practices not Good for Child's Healthy Development

Parenting concepts and practices play an important role in a child's development of a healthy brain and to shape his/her personality, a team of researchers, who found modern parenting techniques affecting the child's healthy growth, say.

Darcia Narvaez and colleagues from University of Notre Dame initiated to find out the factors that make the present younger generation more depressed, anxious, aggressive and delinquent, compared to those of the past. They found modern parenting concepts and practices - the current trend of using infant formula instead of breast milk and infant sleep techniques like separate bed/room for infants - hampering the child's healthy brain development.

"Life outcomes for American youth are worsening, especially in comparison to 50 years ago," Narvaez, Notre Dame professor of psychology, said in a news release. "Ill-advised practices and beliefs have become commonplace in our culture, such as the use of infant formula, the isolation of infants in their own rooms or the belief that responding too quickly to a fussing baby will 'spoil' it."

According to the background information provided in the study, previous studies have shown that responding positively to babies' actions (development of conscience), positive touch (stress reactivity, empathy and impulse control), free play in nature (help in managing hostility), and adult caregivers apart from the mother (for high IQ, ego flexibility and empathy) helps in the child's healthy growth.  

Supporting previous studies, the current study also found breast-feeding, skin-to-skin touch and positive response to baby's actions helping in a child's development.

"Breast-feeding infants, responsiveness to crying, almost constant touch and having multiple adult caregivers are some of the nurturing ancestral parenting practices that are shown to positively impact the developing brain, which not only shapes personality, but also helps physical health and moral development," Narvaez concluded.