Healthy parenting is essential for the physical, emotional, mental and social development of human beings. Unhealthy parenting, therefore, can cause significant distress and negatively affect the development of children. This includes parenting behaviors such as abuse,neglect,being overly controlling, lack of emotional support, being passive aggressive, using harsh disciplining measures and others. Parents who are undergoing distress or mental illness themselves, often demonstrate unhealthy parenting behaviors.
Unhealthy parenting has several impacts on those affected. It can lead to the development of low self-esteem and low self-confidence in children, negatively affecting their ability to perform well in school or work, preventing them from achieving their full potential. Children exposed to unhealthy parenting behaviors, may find it difficult to trust people and form healthy relationships in life. If parents are physically abusive or neglectful then the physical health of children may also worsen. Finally, individuals exposed to unhealthy parenting behaviors, may use similar behaviors when they are parents, resulting in the development of a cycle of unhealthy parenting leading to great distress and misery.
To learn more about healthy parenting behaviours, visit the parenting skills section.