Culture Post: Mother’s Warmth in Childhood Can Influence Teen Health By Shaping Perceptions of Social Safety

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalXpress.

Parental warmth and affection in early childhood can have life-long physical and mental health benefits for children, and new UCLA Health research points to an important underlying process: children’s sense of social safety.

The study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, found that children who experience more maternal warmth at age 3 have more positive perceptions of social safety at age 14, which in turn predicts better physical and mental health outcomes at age 17.

Greater maternal warmth, defined as more praise, positive tone of voice and acts of affection, has previously been shown to predict better health across the lifespan. However, the mechanisms underlying these associations have been unclear, said Dr. Jenna Alley, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow in the Laboratory for Stress Assessment and Research at UCLA.

Researchers used data from more than 8,500 children who were assessed as part of long-term Millennium Cohort Study in the United Kingdom. Independent evaluators visited the children’s homes at age 3 and assessed their mother’s warmth (praise, positive tone of voice) and harshness (physically restraining or grabbing the child).

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-05-mother-warmth-childhood-teen-health.html

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