Being Ignored By Father, And Not So Much Mother, Can Negatively Effect Kids

Aug 20, 2018

Everyone knows that parents play a crucial role in the development of their children. However, this doesn’t mean just physically or mentally, but also socially. New research is indicating that there are many other negative impacts that bad parenting can have on children that were previously overlooked. A new study is noting that children who are ignored and rejected by their dads have more difficulty forming friendships with their peers.

The new scientific findings were researched at the University of Pennsylvania and were even published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence. They set out to determine whether the parental rejection was a factor on children’s lives when it comes to scenarios like social anxiety and friendships.

In the study, the research indicated that children who had been rejected by their fathers developed higher levels of social anxiety than children who had not gone through the same hardship.

The scientists determined that developing this type of social anxiety made it more difficult for the children to form lasting, meaningful friendships with their peers not only as children but later in life as well.

Hio Wa “Grace” Mak, a researcher from the study, noted that the rejection from the father figure presents a high increase in the social anxiety of adolescents, leading to an increase in loneliness later in life. She stated that “this suggests that fathers' rejecting attitudes toward their adolescent children may make them more nervous about approaching social situations, which in turn is related to more social isolation and feelings of loneliness.”

The study was conducted with 687 two-parent families, all with children of middle-school age. The families received an assessment each year when the children were in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. Although rejection by both parents was a large cause of loneliness in children, only rejection by the father proved to have resulted in social anxiety problems for the kids.

Mak noted that fathers are usually not included in types of research about families, so it’s important to understand more about the father’s role in a child’s development and loneliness. The researchers think that this phenomenon comes from a child’s fear of rejection when they are ignored by their fathers. When you couple this fear of rejection with social anxiety, it can dreadfully hinder the development of meaningful relationships later in life.

Researchers from the study want to use their findings in order to create better strategies for intervening in the problem. They note how important it is to create better resources and services for children with social anxiety and would like to remind fathers how important their relationship with their child can be to their development.

It’s also important to help kids who struggle with social anxiety and a fear of rejection create more meaningful relationships at school with their peers in order to set them up to lead a fulfilled life. 

Does this resonate with you? Do you know someone who suffers from anxiety issues? Pass on the research to others so they too can benefit from this information.