1. Good Parent-Child Relationships Have
Long Health Impacts
Researchers find out that good and warm relationship between parents and children
have good effect on health in the longer life span
In a recent study titled, Midlife Health and Parent-Child Relationships; researchers
found out that a good and warm parent-child relationship could contribute to better
health conditions of the child in adult life. In the study, Matthew A. Andersson, Ph.D.,
assistant professor of sociology in Baylor's College of Arts & Sciences, conducted an
analysis of the data obtained from National Survey of Midlife Development in the
United States (MIDUS). MIDUS conducted a survey in 1995 in which 2,746
respondents ages 25 to 75 recounted how they were treated by their parents in their
childhood. Andersson reached out to conduct another survey 10 years later in which
1,692 of the respondents from the original study took part. Andersson’s follow-up
study made adjustments for the personal background recorded in 1995 and also
accounted the probability of dropping out of the MIDUS study.
The study revealed that if the parents have a good and warm relationship with their
children, it helps protect them against severe health conditions in their adult life. The
reason for that is that good and productive relationship with parents help establish
healthy life routines. The good relationships helped make good eating, sleeping and
activity based routines. These routines continue in later life and help prevent onset of
many diseases and health conditions. On the other hand, abusive or aggressive parent-
child relationships strained the routine forming behavior and also affect the child’s
health in later life. Another anomaly found was that even if the parent-child
relationship is good, it does not help lessen the adverse effects of disadvantageous
socioeconomic background. Andersson also found out that childhood abuse continued
to destabilize any protection from disease linked to childhood socioeconomic
advantage.
The study was published recently in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.