A British study reveals that babies are more sensitive to anger when their mothers are very strict.
- Tantrums can lead to liver damage, muscle pain or gastritis, experts say.
- According to specialists, this emotion can also cause anxiety, phobias, compulsive behaviors, and even lead to phases of depression.
Babies whose parents are authoritarian and directive tend to react more easily to anger. This is at least the conclusion of a study carried out by researchers from the University of Manchester, in the United Kingdom, and published by the journal Plos One.
29 baby-moms
To arrive at this result, the scientists followed 29 babies, accompanied by their mothers. Play sessions were organized in order to carefully observe the behavior of the infants, while the mothers were, for their part, noted on their degree of severity. “By ‘directive’ we mean the tendency to behave or comment in such a way as to control or restrain the baby”explain the researchers.
Afterwards, the moms held their babies on their laps as recordings played from the sounds of wordless voices to happy, neutral or angry tones.
A stronger brain response
Since MRI produced too loud a sound, the researchers opted for a less invasive technology to analyze children’s brain activity: near infrared spectroscopy (SPIR). This process, which requires only electrodes placed on the scalp, makes it possible to measure the blood hemoglobin level in the different areas of the brain. The higher it is, the more intense the oxygen concentration and the more active the zone.
According to their results, “the more intrusive and demanding their mother is, the stronger the brain response of six-month-olds when they hear angry voices”, explains Chen Zhao, the lead author of the study. Note that this probably also applies to fathers…
