Waylen, Andrea, Stallard, Nigel and Stewart-Brown, Sarah L.. (2008) Parenting and health in mid-childhood : a longitudinal study. European Journal of Public Health, Vol.18 (No.3). pp. 300-305. ISSN 1101-1262

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Abstract

Background: Parenting and parent-child relationships influence children's emotional and social development and evidence exists that they may be life-course determinants of health. This study tests the hypothesis that adverse parenting in the early years predicts poor health in mid-childhood. Methods: A prospective study using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort. Health data on over 8000 children (60% of those recruited) were available for analysis at 6.9 and 7.7 years. Exposures: self-reported maternal hostility, resentment and hitting/shouting in early childhood. Outcomes: maternal report of child's health in general and number of health problems when the child was 6.9 and 7.7 years, adjusting for socioeconomic factors. Results: Sub-optimal parenting, as measured here, was observed among 62, 80 and 83% of families for hostility, resentment and hitting/shouting, respectively. Resentment was more common among older mothers in owner-occupied housing. Resentment and hostility predicted health at both ages independently of socioeconomic circumstances. 'Hitting/shouting' was weakly predictive of number of health problems. A greater proportion of variance was explained by parenting variables than by socio-economic variables. Conclusions: Parenting and parent-child relationships in the early years predict health in mid-childhood in a way consistent with a causal role. If further studies replicate this finding, policies to improve parenting could be expected to have a modest beneficial impact on health as well as emotional and social development. As some aspects of sub-optimal parenting show reverse social class distribution, initiatives targeted at those living in social deprivation may not achieve the optimum impact on health.

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Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine R Medicine > RJ Pediatrics > RJ101 Child Health. Child health services
Divisions:	Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Mental Health and Wellbeing Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Parenting , Parent and child -- Research, Children -- Health and hygiene -- Research
Journal or Publication Title:	European Journal of Public Health
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
ISSN:	1101-1262
Date:	June 2008
Volume:	Vol.18
Number:	No.3
Number of Pages:	6
Page Range:	pp. 300-305
Identification Number:	10.1093/eurpub/ckm131
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
Funder:	Great Britain. Dept of Health (DoH), University of Warwick
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/29950

Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge

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