New Study - A Problem Child May Have a Problem

Recently, researchers working at the University of Haifa in Israel sought to uncover answers to questions regarding the relation between the perception adolescents have of their parents and their possibility of displaying physical as well as emotional misbehaviors and internal feelings of depression and anxiety.

Since a long time there has been speculation for the reason for children from families having multiple offspring could usually exhibit drastically different emotional temperaments and behavioral. They have the identical genetics and were brought up in similar environment and still certain children appear to be more prone to depression and anxiety in addition to acting out behaviors like delinquency and aggression. This study aimed at finding out if the perception of a child regarding the performance of his or her parents affects behavioral and emotional problems.

Researchers have explored potential links between behavioral problems, aggression, depression, anxiety and perception of behavior of parents. The study analyzed 159 children in the age group of 10 to 17. The study included children of same families. This made is possible for the researchers to observe the perception of parental behavior differed between siblings and its effect on their symptoms.

Subjective perceptions of paternal and maternal rejection, overprotection and favoritism were calculated. The results of the study showed that children having behavioral problems had very dissimilar perceptions of the behavior of their parents when compared to children with no behavioral issues.

Remarkably, a sibling having behavioral issues showed to have completely dissimilar and very negative perception of the behavior of their parents when compared to a sibling with no behavioral issues. It also showed a difference in perception among children having internalized emotional issues like depression or anxiety when compared to their non-symptomatic peers, even though the disparity was not as remarkable in comparison to the group with behavioral issues.

It was found that there was no difference based on gender or age.

Children having negative perception regarding the behavior of their parents have more probability of suffering from emotional and behavioral issues. Further study is required to find out the reason for two children from the same family could have such diverse perceptions regarding their parents’ behavior.

In reality, a few children suffering from emotional and behavioral issues showed that they viewed the conduct of their parents toward their siblings as negative even though the same siblings stated their parent’s behavior as positive.

This information has potential ramifications for treating children suffering from emotional and behavioral issues. Understanding the link would assist researchers find out better ways to aid such children in a therapeutic setting.