Children with strict parents who shout a lot are much more likely to develop lasting mental health problems, research suggests.
“Hostile” parenting styles were found to increase the risk of three-year-olds growing up to be anxious, hyperactive or aggressive by 50 per cent.
The study by the University of Cambridge and University College Dublin involved 7,500 Irish children who were followed from the age of three to nine.
Parents were asked how often they got angry with their children, told them they were “bad”, punished them or said they disapproved of their behaviour.
Their parenting style was classified as hostile if it involved frequent harsh discipline. Examples included shouting at children regularly, routine physical punishment, isolating children when they misbehaved, damaging their self-esteem or punishing
