調查顯示父母管束過多可能會對對子女造成終生心理傷害

Parents who exert too much control over their children could be causing them lifelong psychological damage, according to a study which tracked a group of people born in the 1940s until the present day.

一項針對上世紀40年代生人的跟蹤調查顯示，父母對子女管束過多可能會對下一代造成終生的心理傷害。

Researchers found that people who reported their parents had intruded on their privacy in childhood or encouraged dependence were more likely to have low scores in surveys of happiness and general wellbeing carried out in their teens, their 30s, their 40s and even their 60s.

研究人員發現，那些表示童年時被父母侵犯過隱私或被鼓勵依賴父母的調查對象，在他們青少年時期、30多歲、40多歲甚至60多歲時進行的總體幸福感測試中得低分的可能性更大。

The negative impact on wellbeing was comparable in scale to that observed in people who have suffered a bereavement, experts from University College London (UCL) said.

倫敦大學學院的專家表示，家長控制慾過強對幸福感造成的負面影響與痛失至親對人們產生的負面影響程度相近。

In contrast, people who said their parents were more caring, warm and responsive to their needs tended to be more content well into adulthood.

相比之下，那些說父母關愛體貼、積極響應他們需求的調查對象在成年後往往更心滿意足。

The findings are the culmination of a survey which has tracked more than 5,000 people since their birth in 1946. It is well-established that childhood influences can have profound effect on the developing brain, but this is one of the first studies that have attempted to measure their impact over such a long period of time.

通過對5000餘名1946年生人進行長期的跟蹤調查，研究人員得出了上述結果。衆所周知，兒童時期的經歷對發育中的大腦會產生深遠的影響。不過，這個研究是針對這種影響進行時間跨度這麼大的先驅之一。

Information on parenting styles was only available from the study participants themselves, who were asked to recall their childhoods when in their 40s, and may therefore suffer from a degree of so-called recall bias – unhappy people may be more likely to depict their parents as controlling.

有關父母育兒方式的信息全部由研究參與者提供， 40多歲的他們被要求回憶童年，可能會出現一定程度的所謂“回憶偏倚”——不幸福的人更可能將他們的父母描述爲控制慾強的人。

However the researchers said the findings chimed with previous studies which have shown that children who are able to form secure emotional bonds with parents are more likely to have secure, happy relationships later in life.

然而，研究者也表示，這項調查的發現與過往研究結論是吻合的。過往研究發現，能夠跟父母建立起牢固的情感紐帶的孩子，日後感情關係穩固、幸福的可能性更大。

“Parents also give us stable base from which to explore the world while warmth and responsiveness has been shown to promote social and emotional development,” said Dr Mai Stafford, of the Medical Research Council’s (MRC) Lifelong Health and Ageing unit at UCL.

UCL醫學研究協會（Medical Research Council，MRC）終生健康與老齡化部門的梅斯塔福德（Mai Stafford）博士說：“家長還爲我們提供了穩固的大本營，我們以此爲基礎探索世界。而關愛和體察他人需求已被證明可以推動社交和情感發展。”

“By contrast, psychological control can limit a child’s independence and leave them less able to regulate their own behaviour.”

“相比之下，心理上的控制會削弱孩子的自立與自律能力。”

Examples of psychologically controlling behaviour identified by the study included invasions of children’s privacy and an unwillingness to let children make their own decisions, and fostering dependence upon one or both parents.

研究指出的心理控制行爲包括侵犯孩子隱私、不願意讓孩子自己做決定以及助長孩子對父母的依賴。

Separately, study participants were asked about behavioural control, which included elements of parenting that involve not letting children get their own way: for example, not always allowing them to go out as often as they would like. No links with psychological wellbeing were observed in relation to this kind of parenting.

另外，研究參與者也被問及了行爲控制，其中涉及到拒絕孩子自己做主的育兒方式，比如不允許孩子時常外出。研究未發現這類育兒方式與孩子的心理健康有關。

Dr Stafford said that the study did not seek to blame parents.

斯塔福德博士說，研究並不意在指責父母。

“Parents are vitally important to the mental wellbeing of future generations,” she said. “Policies to reduce economic and other pressures on parents could help them to foster better relationships with their children.” Previous research has shown a clear link between economic stress in parents and poorer early child development.

她說：“父母對後代的心理健康發展至關重要。減少父母經濟等方面的壓力的政策有助於他們改善與子女的關係。”此前有研究表明，家長承受的經濟壓力與孩子糟糕的早期發育有明顯的聯繫。

The study group were participating in the MRC’s National Survey of Health and Development. Of 5,362 people tracked since 1946, 2,800 remain under active follow-up and complete data was available from 2,000 people by the ages of 60-64.

參加此次醫學研究協會全國健康與發展調查的人數達5362，他們從1946年起接受追蹤調查。其中2800人積極參與了跟進調查，2000名60到64歲的調查對象提供了完整數據。

The findings are published in the Journal of Positive Psychology.

該調查的發現刊載在《積極心理學期刊》（Journal of Positive Psychology）上。

What's the theory? Parenting styles

育兒經一窺

Slow parenting: allows children to go at their own pace, with little control over what they take an interest in or when they do it.

放養式（Slow parenting）：任孩子以自己的節奏自由發展，幾乎不干涉他們何時對什麼事情感興趣。

Helicopter parenting: named for the constantly hovering quality of certain mums and dads, the opposite of slow parenting is characterised by close involvement in a child’s interests and hobbies. First identified in the 60s, the term has come to describe the type of parent who lines up a list of after school activities.

直升機式（Helicopter parenting）：因某些家長像直升機一樣時刻盤旋在孩子身邊而得名。與“放養式”父母完全不同，他們的一大特點就是密切介入子女的興趣愛好。此詞最早出現在上世紀60年代，現用來指代全權安排課外活動的父母。

Tiger mum: originated in a 2011 book by Chinese-American author Amy Chua about a traditional, strict approach to motherhood that gets results in terms of grades and extracurricular achievement. It also spawned a new term for another breed of parent – the cat dad, who is laid back, stand-offish and slow to anger.

虎媽式（Tiger mum）：此詞出自華裔美國作家蔡美兒（Amy Chua）2011年出版的一本書。書中寫到母親採用一種嚴苛的傳統教育方法，令孩子在學業上以及課業外都有所成。“虎媽”還衍生出另一個新詞“貓爸”，形容隨和、矜持而不易動怒的父親。