Research carried out by the Department of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh (USA) suggests that the use of physical or verbal abuse to punish a child can promote risky behavior in adolescence (their inclination to participate in criminal activities and other negative behaviors), which in turn leads to lower educational attainment.
To reach this conclusion, the experts conducted an analysis of more than 1,000 students from the Maryland Contextual Adolescent Development Study, tracking them from seventh grade (12-13 years) to age 21.
Throughout the study, the students had to talk about their social interaction with peers and parents, their sexual behavior, or their relationship with crime. The educational level of each student was assessed at age 21 , determined through the number of school years completed.
“We believe our study is the first to use children’s life stories as a framework to examine how parenting affects children’s educational outcomes through peer relationships, sexual behavior, and delinquency,” he notes. Rochelle F. Hentges, Work Leader.
Compared with students exposed to more tolerant parents, those who were exposed to harsh parents were more likely to view their peers as more important than other responsibilities years later. As a result, children with strict parents were more likely to engage in risky behaviors at 16-17 years old (frequent sexual behavior, hitting, robbery, and other crimes). These behaviors, in turn, were associated with low educational attainment at the age of 21.
According to the authors, adolescents whose needs have not been met by their parents “may seek validation from their peers. This can lead to increased aggression and delinquency, as well as early sexual behavior at the expense of long-term goals. term, like education, “says Hentges.
The study has been published in the journal Child Development.
