October 12, 2012

Parental bonding = happy, stable child




Study finds that closeness with either parent has behavioral, emotional benefits

Parents: Want to help ensure your children turn out to be happy and socially well adjusted? Bond with them when they are infants.

That’s the message from a study by the University of Iowa, which found that infants who have a close, intimate relationship with a parent are less likely to be troubled, aggressive or experience other emotional and behavioral problems when they reach school age. Surprisingly, the researchers found that a young child needs to feel particularly secure with only one parent to reap the benefits of stable emotions and behavior, and that being attached to dad is just as helpful as being close to mom.