HARSH PARENTING

Harsh parents tend to spank, shake and often get angry at children.

People brought up by harsh parents can become fearful adults, new research shows.

Harsh parents tend to spank, shake and often get angry at children.

Researchers observed critical differences in the fear-processing circuits of the brain among adolescents who had been subject to harsh parenting.

Anxious people, in particular, tend to become very sensitive to threats later on when they receive harsh parenting.

Early spanking has been linked to greater negative emotions, such as irritability, other research has already shown.

Spanking children is also associated with:

• Poorer mental development.
• Weaker emotional ties between parents and children.
• Increased risk the child will hit other children.
• Increased risk the child will later hit their partner.