Culture Post: Positive Parenting Buffers Stress’s Effects on the Brain

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by EurekAlert!

Positive parenting—as reported by children and teenagers—protects young people from the deleterious effects of stressors like financial hardship or serious illness, according to a new study.

Jamie Hanson and colleagues examined magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data along with survey data for 482 participants in an ongoing study, the Healthy Brain Network, who were between the ages of 10–17 at the time of data collection.

Previous work has found associations between stress and small hippocampal volumes as well as between stress and behavioral problems—associations confirmed by this study, although effect sizes were modest.

In the current study, the authors found that in young people who reported their parents were warm and supportive, these associations were weaker or absent. Positive relationships with caregivers may act as “resilience factors,” according to the authors, that protect against the many deleterious developmental outcomes associated with childhood stress. Importantly, this buffering effect was not found for caregiver-reported positive parenting—only for youth-reported positive parenting.

Youth are active agents and may be better informants of their own experience of stress and being cared for than caregivers, the authors argue. According the authors, the findings support evidence from interventions designed to increase positive and supportive parenting, which are associated with positive outcomes for youth.

The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal, PNAS NEXUS.

Source: EurekAlert!
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/992161

Find more culture news on HomeWord’s Culture Blog, named in 2023 for the eighth consecutive year as one of the top 50 culture blogs on the planet!

Help us reach the next generation of families

Donate
Back to Top

[reposted by] Jim Liebelt

Jim is Senior Writer, Editor and Researcher for HomeWord. Jim has 40 years of experience as a youth and family ministry specialist, having served over the years as a pastor, author, consultant, mentor, trainer, college instructor, and speaker. Jim’s HomeWord culture blog also appears on Crosswalk.com and Religiontoday.com. Jim and his wife Jenny live in Quincy, MA.

  • About HomeWord

    HomeWord helps families succeed by creating Biblical resources that build strong marriages, confident parents, empowered kids and healthy leaders. Founded by Jim Burns, HomeWord seeks to advance the work of God in the world by educating, equipping, and encouraging parents and churches. Learn More »

  • Support Our Mission

    HomeWord is non-profit, donor supported ministry. If you would like to partner with HomeWord in our effort to help more parents and families you can make a donation. Your investment will allow us to expand this ministry by offering more resources to families and churches in need.

  • Contact Information

    • HomeWord
      PO Box 1600
      San Juan Capistrano, CA
      92693

    • Send us an email

    • 800-397-9725
      (M-F: 8:30am-5pm PST)

Close