Poorva Chavan
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Written By: Poorva Chavan | Updated : February 17, 2016 5:22 PM IST
Moms-to-be are advised to eat right and stay away from alcohol and as it influences the development of the baby. But it's not what the mother eats or does, but the environment that surrounds her during pregnancy also affects the foetus. A study conducted at the University of Tampere in Finland says that family environment during pregnancy and a year of birth affects the baby and influences how the baby develops emotionally. The findings highlight the importance of a family system and mother and child relationship in children's emotional development. (Read: How to understand and acknowledge your child's emotions)
Jallu Lindblom from the University of Tampere in Finland explains that children develop emotional regulation strategies to adapt to their family environment. The adaptation may also indicate at their risk of developing anxiety disorders and lack of social skills later in life.
How was the study conducted?
For the study, 79 ten-year-olds from different types of families were shown pictures of happy and angry faces. To find out how they deal with emotions unconsciously, they used a dot probe technique that measures the speed of reaction. Researchers tried to observe how these kids regulate emotions.
The findings--
Children with close-knit or cohesive families, where parents have a good marital relate relationship and have a close relationship with the baby are more likely first to pay attention to the threatening stimuli and subsequently disengage from such stimuli. Being able to alienate from the threatening stimuli demonstrates a flexible ability to regulate negative emotions efficientlyRead: Your fights could be emotionally damaging your kids)
Children with disengaged families first focus their attention towards the threatening stimuli and then move their focus away from it rather than disengaging from it.
Children with enmeshed families, where individuals have no personal boundaries, focussed their attention on the threatening stimuli and weren't; able to disassociate from it.
The conclusion--
Not being able to dissociate from threatening stimuli is an indication of difficulties in regulating emotional experiences. The study highlights the importance of regarding the family as whole by including early parenting by fathers.(Read: 5 things you should not do to punish your child)
Photo source: Getty images(Image for representational purpose only)
