NEUROTIC PARENTS INFECT THEIR KIDS!
Surprising link between sex and anxiety
ANXIETY disorders are transmitted from mothers to daughters and from fathers to sons because kids model their behavior after the parent of the same biological sex!
That’s the conclusion of researchers at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, who interviewed 398 children, 221 moms and 237 dads.
Amazingly, the scientists also determined a parent of the opposite sex experiencing anxiety issues did not appear to have the same impact on their offspring.
California-based clinical psychologist Dr. Carla Marie Manly says the study’s results are not surprising.
“Although both fathers and mothers have a profound impact on their children, developmental psychology has long focused on the same-sex parent’s distinct emotional and mental impact on the child,” explains Manly.
“Given that young children’s brains are highly impressionable, it makes perfect sense children would ‘absorb’ anxiety, particularly from the same-sex parent.”
The Dalhousie team suggests some youngsters may have a genetic risk of psychological illness. However, the researchers also note neurotic parents shape their kids’ environment.
Dr. Gregory Nawalanic, a clinical psychologist at The University of Kansas Health System, says children look to their moms and dads as images of stability.
“Imagine the message that is sent and internalized by the child who sees their parents consistently in a state of alarm or fear,” Nawalanic explains. “It colors the world around them as a threatening place and confirms their age-appropriate fear of the unknown — rather than dispelling it and communicating calm and safety.”