A new study published in JAMA Pediatrics by researchers at the University of Michigan has revealed the impact of parenting on a child’s brain development and mental health. The study found that early exposure to harsh parenting during preschool years can have widespread effects on the organization of the entire brain’s communication, while later exposures affect specific brain areas.
The researchers used a new statistical method to identify “sensitive periods” in childhood when the brain is particularly susceptible to external influences and whether experiences during these sensitive periods would predict mental health during a stressful period like the COVID-19 pandemic. They also used advanced brain imaging techniques to explore how information flows through the developing brain.
The study analysed data from a 21-year longitudinal birth cohort study of low-income youths and families from Detroit, Chicago and Toledo, Ohio. The sample included an analysis of 173 youths, and parents reported their harsh behaviour, including psychological and physical aggression, while observers recorded warm parenting for children at ages 3, 5 and 9. A follow-up substudy with neuroimaging was done for youths at age 15, and six years later, during the COVID-19 pandemic, participants reported their symptoms of anxiety and depression.
The findings indicated that parents’ harsh parenting during early childhood affected the overall organization of the brain in adolescence, while harsh parenting in late childhood more specifically affected the corticolimbic circuit – a specific part of the brain that includes the amygdala and frontal cortex and is involved in processing and regulating emotion.
The researchers also examined positive aspects of parenting and found that warm parenting during middle childhood was associated with how the amygdala was differentially connected to other parts of the brain. Importantly, parenting warmth predicted reduced anxiety and depression 15 years later during the COVID-19 pandemic due to its effects on the amygdala.
Luke Hyde, a U-M professor of psychology and faculty associate at the Institute for Social Research, says the research shows that the impact of positive and negative experiences on the brain may be different depending on when in life we have these experiences. “It uses new methods to test age-old questions from developmental psychology about whether children have sensitive periods of brain development,” he said.
Conclusion
Cleanthis Michael, a U-M graduate student and the study’s first author, says the “findings indicate that earlier interventions may offer broader benefits for brain development.” He also highlights that the research shows “periods of vulnerability and opportunity for treatments and policy to promote healthy, long-term development. Interventions for parents, and policies that support parents, may have more profound impacts earlier in life.”
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