Authoritarian parenting, or extremely strict parenting style Focused on obedience and discipline, he has just scored another hit against you. A new study from the University of Leuven suggests that strict parenting changes the “wiring” of a child’s brain and can lead to depression and another Mental illness as a teenager and an adult.
“We found that parenting perceived as harsh, with physical punishment and psychological manipulation, can introduce an additional set of instructions for how a gene is read to be integrated into DNA,” explained lead author Dr. Evelien Van Assche, in an article. Press release. “We have some indication that these changes themselves may predispose the growing child to depression. This does not happen to the same extent if the children have had a supportive upbringing”,
The small study compared 21 teens who described themselves as “good parents,” which includes child support and autonomy, and 23 teens who reported “tough parenting,” which includes things like manipulative behavior. All respondents were between 12 and 16 years old.
Using genome mapping, the researchers found that the 23 teens who reported stricter parenting had greater variation in methylation, which is the key to turning certain genes on and off. The methylation rate was much higher in those who experienced stricter parenting, suggesting that authoritarian parenting might be behind a higher risk of depression and other mental illnesses.
“We based our approach on previous research with identical twins. Two independent groups found that the twin diagnosed with major depression also had a higher DNA methylation rate for most of these hundreds of thousands of data points, compared to the healthy twin,” noted Dr. Van Assche.
“The DNA remains the same, but these additional chemical groups affect how the DNA instructions are read. Those who reported harsher parenting showed a tendency toward depression, and we believe this tendency has been embedded in their DNA through greater variation in methylation,” explained Dr Van Assche.
“Now we are seeing if we can come full circle by linking it to a later diagnosis of depression and perhaps use this increased methylation variation as a marker, to give earlier warning of who might be at greater risk of developing depression as a result of their upbringing.” , concluded Dr. Van Assche.
The researchers do note that stress in general could lead to higher levels of methylation, and that larger studies need to be done to find the exact link: “In this study we investigated the role of harsh parenting, but it is likely that any stress will lead to such changes in DNA methylation, so in general stress in childhood can lead to a general tendency to depression in later life by altering the way DNA is read. These results need to be confirmed in a larger sample.”
Still, this work could lead to a new way to detect mental illnesses like depression and anxiety ratesparticularly in children and adolescents, it continues to skyrocket.
