Thaindian News

Washington, Oct 28 (IANS) Mothers’ hostility towards toddlers makes them aggressive, defiant and volatile by the time they’re in kindergarten, say scientists.

A new study by the University of Minnesota suggests that a cycle involving parenting styles and hostility between mothers and toddlers is at play.

The researchers examined more than 260 mothers and their children, following them from the children’s birth until first grade, the journal Child Development reported, citing a statement from the university.

They assessed infants’ difficult temperament as well as how they were parented between the first week and the sixth month of life, based on both observations and parent reports.

When the children were two-and-a-half and three years old, researchers watched mothers with their children doing tasks that challenged the children and required assistance from the parents.

Finally, when the children were in kindergarten and first grade, researchers asked moms and teachers to rate the children’s behaviour problems.

“Our findings suggest that it was negative parenting in early infancy that mattered most,” said Michael F. Lorber, scientist at New York University, who led the study when he was at the University of Minnesota.

Negative parenting occurred when parents expressed negative emotions toward their children, handled them roughly, and so forth.