Parenting articles

Study Links Poverty to Depression among Mothers

Published on 2010-08-26 00:39:00

More than half of babies in poverty are being raised by mothers who show symptoms of mild to severe depression, potentially creating problems in parenting and in child development, according to a new study. In what was described as the first detailed portrait of its kind, researchers reported that one in nine infants in poverty had a mother with severe depression and that such mothers typically breastfed their children for shorter periods than other mothers who were poor. "A mom who

Stressed out: Studies Show Babies Become Anxious if Ignored for Even Two Minutes by Mother

Published on 2010-08-25 07:32:00

They may have barely mastered sitting up by themselves. But six-month-old babies become stressed out when they don't get the attention they feel they deserve. Levels of the stress hormone cortisol soar when they are ignored by their mother, and even a day later they are worried about the same thing happening again. A baby who is deprived of its mother's love for just two minutes is anxious about being ignored again the next day, a study found. Experts in child development sai

Young Children Make More Mistakes Learning New Words than Parents Expect

Published on 2010-08-25 07:25:00

Learning new words is not always as easy for young children as parents may think, according to the results of a new study. Research carried out by the Kent Child Development Unit at the University of Kent has found that five-year-olds often make mistakes when they are learning new words for actions. Kirsten Abbot-Smith, a lecturer in developmental psychology who led the research, said the findings were surprising. 'We know from other studies that by the age of two, children can use