A parent's way of reprimanding a child for doing something wrong may affect her far longer than most think. In a recent study on ScienceDaily.com, researchers from the University of Jyväskylä in Finland have found that guilt-inducing parenting may cause kids to feel distressed over a wrongdoing until the day after the issue.

Guilt-inducing parenting makes a lasting impact on "a child's behavior using psychological means rather than direct limit setting." For example, a child brings home three consecutive failing quizzes because she hasn't been studying. Regular parenting will have his parents go "You should've focused on your books instead of your dolls," while guilt-inducing parenting will have them say, "We work so hard to put you to school and you don't even value that." This type of parenting shows how shameful her actions are, and causes the child to feel agitated longer than when parents focus on the fault itself.

According to researchers Kaisa Aunola, Asko Tolvanenen, Jaana Viljaranta, and Jari-Erik Nurmi, parents who normally use this as a means of disciplining their children are those who are stressed themselves due to work and other factors outside the home. Consequently, this parenting style causes distress and anger in children.

If a child does something wrong, it's best for parents to work on the fault itself and not to inadvertently pass their own anxieties to her. Making a child feel guilty about a parental responsibility that she has no control over may only make matters worse, and so instead of walking that path, it's better to explain why mommy and daddy got mad. This will make hem better understand her mistake, and why she must do better next time.

(Photo by Peretz Partensky via Flickr Creative Commons)