Adults might want rethink yelling at their hormonal teenager, no matter how frustrating parenting can get.
A new study from researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Michigan suggests parents using "harsh verbal discipline" is not effective and does more harm to adolescents in the long run. Instead of getting the teen to stop the "problematic behavior," parents are aggravating it, according to a news release:
"Harsh verbal discipline happens when parents use psychological force to cause a child to experience emotional pain or discomfort in an effort to correct or control behavior. It can vary in severity from yelling and shouting at a child to insulting and using words to humiliate. Many parents shift from physical to verbal discipline as their children enter adolescence, and harsh verbal discipline is not uncommon."
The findings were published in the journal Child Development. According to a news release, 90 percent of American parents admitted to using "harsh verbal discipline," including severe forms such as cursing and name-calling directed at the teen:
"This study found that when parents use it in early adolescence, teens suffer detrimental outcomes later. The children of mothers and fathers who used harsh verbal discipline when they were 13 suffered more depressive symptoms between ages 13 and 14 than their peers who weren't disciplined in this way; they were also more likely to have conduct problems such as misbehaving at school, lying to parents, stealing, or fighting."
Researchers found parents that use "harsh" discipline increases risk of their child repeating the negative behavior they are trying to correct, may lower their inhibitions and foster anger within the teen.
"This is one of the first studies to indicate that parents' harsh verbal discipline is damaging to the developing adolescent," said Ming-Te Wang, assistant professor of psychology in education at the University of Pittsburgh, who led the study. "The notion that harsh discipline is without consequence, once there is a strong parent-child bond -- that the adolescent will understand that 'they're doing this because they love me' -- is misguided because parents' warmth didn't lessen the effects of harsh verbal discipline."
"Indeed, harsh verbal discipline appears to be detrimental in all circumstances," Wang concluded.
