Can Parents' Parenting Style Affect Children's Health? Here's What Experts Say

Illustration (Vika Glitter/Pexels)

JAKARTA - It is not new to know that the relationship between parents who are full of conflict or neglect will have a negative impact on children's emotional or mental health. And it turns out that poor parenting also has an impact on children's physical health.

A study has shown a relationship between how parents interact with their children in changes in children's physiological. A 2016 study published in the Journal of Family Psychology observed the relationship between parenting and inflammation and immune activation (which is a risk factor for disease in the future) in children.

The researchers found that there was one parenting style that was ranked at the top. Which is closely related to the poor health of children. Namely, parenting is not involved. In the study, parenting is not involved (not knowing where the children are or what they are doing, does not discipline, does not show warmth or engage in children's lives) attributed to the activation of higher immune systems in children.

To investigate the influence of various parenting styles on children's health, researchers at Oregon University examined saliva samples from 102 children (averaged 9 years). They checked samples to determine levels of the C-reactive protein, which measure general inflammation in the body, and immunoglobulin A secretori, which measures the activation of the immune system.

The researchers then asked the children's parents to fill out the Alabama Child Care Dekasioner, which measures five aspects of parenting, namely the positive involvement of parents, positive disciplinary techniques, the use of positive disciplinary methods consistently, the use of physical punishment, as well as monitoring and supervision.

From the results of the study, it was found that the poor parental surveillance scale was related to the level of inflammation and higher immunity activation in children in the study.

What does that mean? One of the causes of this is probably because parents ask their children to manage themselves beyond their abilities, said study co-author Nicholas B. Allen, Ph.D., professor of clinical psychology at the University of Oregon, reported by Very Well Family, Wednesday, December 6.

Apart from not being involved in parenting, helicopter parenting can also cause the level of inflammation of children to increase and also stress. chronic stress can have a negative impact on children's health.

So, what kind of parenting is good for children? Like in life, moderation is key. Child care is excessive and too involved is not good for children. Because children need to experiment and be normally independent, said Dr. Allen.

However, attractive parenting (where parents are not involved in children's lives and do not have a strong bond with children) is also not good for children's emotional, mental, and even physical development.

Dr Allen believes that the best parenting style for children's health is a non-excessive parenting style. Taking care of children must enable independence and provide care.

"Provide support for children when they are developing, then slowly let go of this support and let him become independent with his abilities."