Role of Parenting in psychological issues in children
Children of today are given mobile phones, PCs, internet etc at a very young age. He or she has access to everything that can be a potential threat to them because they are at a vulnerable age where they are still developing and are easy to influence. These technologies are exposing them to media and content that is negatively impacting the children and the younger generations are a proof of it today.
What is addiction ?
Addiction refers to a condition wherein the person is unable to separate themselves from certain things, they need it, have increased tolerance to it that is they can keep increasing it’s consumption each time and if it is taken away from them they can’t live with that and may react very aggressively, lack of control etc.
Addiction is not only to substances like caffeine, alcohol, opioids etc but in this digital world also to the internet, social media, games etc. Globally 26.99% children are smartphone addicted 17.42% are social media addicted 14.22% have internet addiction, and 6.04% are game addicts, boys are mostly game and internet addicted (Meng et al., 2022). While according to The Hindu there are 1.5 crore children between age 10 to 17 who are addicted to substances in India (The Hindu, 2022).
Addiction is a complex process but it usually occurs due to changes in brain chemistry. Whenever we do something rewarding, “feel good” chemicals are released in the body that makes one do that thing again and again. In case of addiction ( a disease) certain things like substances, spending money, sex etc can stimulate a release of these chemicals in great amounts and the person finds themselves wanting to do that thing, with time they no longer feel the same pleasure as before as then they increase its consumption and get stuck in a loop where they constantly repeat it while also increasing its intake.
Problem with addiction in children
Addiction is especially very problematic in children because their brain is not completely developed so it is very easy for them to become addicted as well as it is more harmful as well as it can later traumatise them and develop into mental disorders. Today a child has a plethora of game options to choose from. While there are some games that are beneficial which are also used by psychologists on their clients for treatment and rehabilitation of certain disorders as these games help improve cognitive functioning. Similar effect of improvement in cognition is seen with activities like sports and arts (Rosyati et al., 2020). That is why for optimal development of a child games are also vital. It was seen in professional gamers that the brain volume and functionality in the insular region (region in the brain associated with language processing, taste, smell and interpersonal abilities) is increased (Rosyati et al., 2020). But mostly the games children are playing today are harming them because these are usually online games which glue them to their screens for long durations. This is impacting their physical health because there is lack of movement throughout the day which is very crucial at an age where they are growing and so their muscles need to be worked for a strong body. The problem with these games doesn’t end there, the children are addicted. They are spending hours playing online games. Research found that children and adolescents with game addiction show changed brain structure and function and have limited control on their impulses (Rosyati et al., 2020).
They have phones and PCs which means they must also have access to the internet. Children are living virtually more than in real life, if they want to talk to their friends they would prefer texting them rather than meeting them. They spend hours on the internet and social media but they don’t have friends and they don’t know how to make friends in the real world, they compare themselves with people online and feel jealous or envious, acquire insecurities, feel lonely, feel less worthy. Internet addiction affects a child’s physical and mental health by interfering with their exercise time and sleep time (Zhou, Zhu et al., 2022). Not only this but high-risk Internet users don’t have proper diet quality and also ill dietary behaviour which can hinder in healthy growth and development of the individual (Kim, Park et al. 2010 ). Internet addiction is associated with higher sympathetic activity that indicates increased heart rate and lower parasympathetic activity (Pi-Chu Lin et al., 2014).
There are a lot of adverse effects of addiction problems which can be categorised into :
- Physical health : They are at a higher risk of developing health issues like due to their lack of activities. They are at a risk of getting obese, having poor eyesight etc. They are also exposed to radiation coming from these devices for long periods of time. They also suffer from insomnia.
- Mental health : They are more likely to be lonely, anxious, stressed etc and have lower self esteem due to overconsumption of media online. They can feel they are lacking behind. In severe cases they may develop depression and anxiety disorder.
- Social health : Due to spending the majority of their time indoors virtually, they lack social skills, they won’t be able to build social bonds or maintain them. In severe cases they can develop disorders like social conduct disorder, antisocial behaviour etc.
- Academics : Many researches have shown that addicted children suffer academically. They are unable to score well, pay attention in the class, problem solve etc.
Role of parenting in child development
We know children grow up looking at their parents so parenting style and family environment matters for raising a healthy and happy child.
The major types of parenting styles are authoritarian, authoritative, permissive and neglectful. Authoritarian parenting style is in which the parents exercise complete control over their children with no flexibility for child’s emotions, strict rules, no chance for children to communicate whereas in authoritative parenting style the parents set limits and expectations, understand the child’s emotions, support them and communicate frequently with them. Neglectful parenting is the one in which parents don’t have any sense of responsibility and no expectations from the child. Indulgent parents or permissive parents are those who set no rules for their kids and give them full freedom, so much that they don’t direct or guide them. The style of parenting matters, as it affects child development in ways like academic achievement, emotional intelligence and tendency of depression, anxiety, personality disorders, substance use etc. A study revealed that authoritarian and authoritative parenting style significantly affect child behaviour and school achievement with authoritarian showing negative effect and authoritative showing positive effect, girls received more of authoritative parenting style while parents were more authoritarian with boys and hence girls usually do better in academics (Mamat et al., 2015).
Role of parenting in addiction problems
Parents are such a big root cause for the development of addiction problems in children. They are the ones who provide the children with such technologies without considering the consequences. Even if they hand them these, they should monitor them, it is very important because these children are young and have not yet developed the ability to self control themselves but today’s parents are so busy that they don’t do it. Moreover, the parents are the role models of their children and if they spend the majority of their time making phone calls or working on their computers in front of the children, they will learn that.
A research reveals that adolescents (14 year olds) were less likely to try smoking,drinking or drugs if they perceived their parents’ parenting style as authoritative than adolescents having authoritarian, indulgent and neglectful families but the difference between adolescents from authoritative and authoritarian families is not much significant, substance use of the adolescents from indulgent families were more likely to try smoking than authoritative and authoritarian families but less likely to try smoking than neglectful families at age 14 but at age 17 there is not significant difference between indulgent and neglectful families (Adalbjarnardottir, 2001).
Internet addiction was shown to significantly and negatively be linked with support, warmth, proactive parenting and significantly and positively linked with hostility, control and bad parenting (Karababa, 2020). Children with psychiatric problems and dysfunctional parenting have increased chances of screen addiction development (Young, Abreu, 2017) which means children having autism and other such disorders are also likely to become addicted to screen. According to another research, the distress and conflict between parents or members in families (the factor with most relation with social media addiction), conflict regarding school between adolescent and mother, and pressure on adolescents to be perfect were linked with social media addiction (Bilgin et al., 2020). People coming from richer families are more likely to spend more time on their phones (Shin, 2017). It could be because they can afford the latest technology and are more educated about them as well as have free time due to having people and servants working for them.
Role of parenting in recovery
Treatment for substance addiction and internet addiction is different as for substance users the recovery involves complete quitting of substances while this can’t be done for internet addiction as it has become an integral part of work for children today, so they must rather be taught to learn control (Rich, Tsappis, Kavanaugh, 2017).
There are certain things that a parent can do in order to prevent and improve these addictions. Parents can monitor the child and guide them with Active mediation (teaching children about internet use and safety), restrictive mediation (putting limitations on certain contents and time spent on internet), coviewing mediation (parents and children together review child’s internet activities), psychoeducation (parents should discuss the rewards of healthier alternatives), parental care (parents should exercise care and warmth) for managing internet gaming disorder (Hidaayah et al., 2022). They must keep their children busy with other activities like art and outdoor games which are fun but also good for the development of a child’s brain.
Parents must understand that having children is a responsibility and if they have kids they must not neglect it and pay attention to their parenting style as it matters more than it seems, it shapes a child’s personality and development. Authoritarian parenting is considered to be the best parenting style regardless of culture, which is associated with higher academic performance, less anxiety ,depression and other mental health issues, higher self esteem and better social skills (Awiszus et al., 2022).
References
Adalbjarnardottir. 2001.Adolescents’ Perceived Parenting Styles and Their Substance Use: Concurrent and Longitudinal Analyses.
Awiszus et al., 2022. Parenting Styles and Their Effect on Child Development and Outcome. https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/download/3679/1553
Bilgin et al., 2020. Social Media Addiction in Adolescents and Parent-Adolescent Relationship.
Hidaayah et al., 2022. Parenting in the Prevention of Internet Gaming Addiction. https://oamjms.eu/index.php/mjms/article/download/7980/8199
The Hindu. 2022. More than 1.5 crore children aged 10-17 addicted to substances: Centre tells SC. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/more-than-15-crore-children-aged-10-17-addicted-to-substances-centre-tells-sc/article66263112.ece
Karababa. 2020. Examining Internet Addiction of Early Adolescents in terms of
Parenting Styles. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/1162218
Kim, Park et al. 2010. The effects of Internet addiction on the lifestyle and dietary behavior of Korean adolescents. https://scholar.google.co.in/scholar?q=impact+of+internet+addiction++on+child+development+research&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart#d=gs_qabs&t=1727718325214&u=%23p%3D7w35sPQjtEcJ
Mamat et al., 2015. Effects of Parenting Style on Children Development. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Maharam-Mamat/publication/265025870_Effects_of_Parenting_Style_on_Children_Development/links/557f7b1b08aeb61eae26190f/Effects-of-Parenting-Style-on-Children-Development.pdf
Meng et al., 2022. Global prevalence of digital addiction in general population: A systematic review and meta-analysis. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272735822000137
Pi-Chu Lin et al., 2014. Effects of internet addiction on heart rate variability in school-aged children. https://scholar.google.co.in/scholar?q=impact+of+internet+addiction++on+child+development+research&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart#d=gs_qabs&t=1727718201018&u=%23p%3DwpogXWxlckYJ
Rosyati et al. . 2020. Effects of Games and How Parents Overcome Addiction to Children.
Zhou, Zhu et al., 2022. Internet addiction and child physical and mental health: Evidence from panel dataset in China. https://scholar.google.co.in/scholar?q=impact+of+internet+addiction++on+child+development+research&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart#d=gs_qabs&t=1727718491678&u=%23p%3DSpq3NRHWolkJ
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/6407-addiction
