如何改变孩子的一生 | 今日心理学

‍PARENTING

New Research Finds That a Parent's Presence Really Matters

A parent’s presence might impact how a child's brain responds to fear.

Have you ever been in a situation where your child is scared or nervous about something and you want to encourage them to be brave and confident but aren’t sure what to say or what to do? An emerging line of research finds that a parent’s presence alone might be enough to change how your child responds when they are scared or nervous. A new study that was just published in the journal Developmental Science even suggests that a parent’s presence might impact how a child’s brain responds to fear.

Research consistently shows that children learn from their parents what is safe versus dangerous and when to be scared. Children learn fear from their parents by associating something neutral with a fear response. For example, children have no reason to be afraid of a hot stove but they learn from their parents to be afraid of it. The first time that they reach their hand toward a hot stove and their parent yells or grabs their hand, they learn to associate the neutral object (a stove) with fear. Researchers refer to this as “fear conditioning”. Children also learn that they are safe by paying attention to their parents. For example, they learn to associate an event that causes fear (such as a new person or place) with safety when they see their parents staying calm. Previous research shows that children are more likely to show brave behavior (that is, approach something they have been taught to fear) if their parents are present. This new study adds to our understanding of this learning process by showing that a parent being present reduces the fear response in the brains of children.

Study Details

This study included children from 6 to 17 years. The children were placed in a brain scanner and taught to associate random shapes with a loud, startling noise (see below). The researchers compared the fear response when the parent was present with the child (standing next to the child in the brain scanner and putting a hand on the child’s hand or leg) versus when the parent was not in the room.

Study Findings

The researchers found that the children showed less of a response in the amygdala (translation: the amygdala is a part of the brain that is linked to fear) for the loud noise when parents were present before learning the association. This suggests that parents “buffer” the fear response in their children (translation: although the children may still experience fear, their fear response is less intense).

The children also showed a slightly weaker activation of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) while learning a new fear association when their parents were present. This suggests a parent’s presence might also influence how children learn about new fears.

Overall Translation

The big takeaway message here is that just your presence as a parent is so important in how your child responds to fear and learns about new fears. This study along with previous research suggests that the simple presence of parents impacts children’s fear response and fear learning.

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