TEMPE, Ariz., Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Parents who are warm and nurturing have children who are well-adjusted adolescents, Arizona State University researchers say.
The Tempe, Ariz., team evaluated 186 children and their parents three times over six years in reaching the conclusion reported in the September/October issue of Child Development.
The study, which followed children from about age 9 to 13, tested their ability to handle frustrating tasks combined with observations of their parents -- mainly mothers -- as well as reports from parents and teachers.
"The quality of parent-child interactions in childhood seems to foreshadow whether young adolescents experience behavioral problems in adolescence, and this relation appears to be at least partly due to the fact that warm, positive parents have children who are well-regulated," said author Nancy Eisenberg.
"Because warm parenting seems to foster children's self-regulation, it is likely to contribute to youths' positive functioning in a variety of areas," Eisenberg said.
