The way parents manage family arguments can seriously damage their children’s mental health later in life. If rows become more frequent as they are growing up, the risk that they will suffer mental health problems as they enter their 30s increases dramatically. In an experiment that has been running for some 30 years, a team of psychiatrists and sociologists followed 346 boys and girls from similar socioeconomic backgrounds in New England, starting from age 5. At 15, about half reported that the number of arguments with their parents and between their parents had increased, and 15 years later these people were more than three times as likely as the others to suffer from major depression, or indulge in drug or alcohol abuse. They were also nearly three times as likely to engage in antisocial behavior, and more than twice as likely to be unemployed, according to the study published in the March Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Team member Helen Reinherz of the Simmons College of Social Work in Boston, says the work highlights the need for programs to teach parents effective ways of communicating with their children and with each other. New Scientist
