Parenting

A new study tracking thousands of youth in an open mental healthcare system reveals that a parent's education level strongly predicts a child's cognitive scores. The research highlights hidden disparities in how families utilize medical support.

A new study reveals how a history of childhood trauma can lead to depressive symptoms in fathers raising toddlers, operating through a sequential pathway of masculine gender role stress and emotional dysregulation.

A new study finds that Japanese fathers whose first child is a girl tend to develop more equal views on gender roles. The findings show how raising daughters can shift political attitudes, even in culturally conservative societies.

A new study reveals that job loss disrupts family planning, but the effects are highly gendered. A woman losing her job makes couples less likely to have their first child, while a man’s job loss deters having a second.

A recent study published in Nature reveals that motherhood permanently remodels the brain through dopamine, enhancing learning and memory. The findings challenge the "mommy brain" myth, while warning that severe postpartum stress can disrupt these natural adaptations.

A brief, positive conversation between a mother and her child can align their brainwaves, and this neural synchronization lingers even after the interaction ends, suggesting that everyday chats may help shape the development of the social brain.

Fathers today spend four times as much time with their kids as they did 50 years ago. However, a parenting researcher notes this is largely because extended community and family support networks have deteriorated.

Using virtual reality, researchers found that children who take physical risks during playtime develop better hazard-assessment skills. The study highlights how a cultural embrace of adventurous play helps kids safely navigate complex real-world environments.

When grandparents help raise their grandchildren, who decides how much care to provide? A new study tracking thousands of older couples reveals that the grandmother's physical and mental health ultimately dictates the caregiving schedule for both partners.

By analyzing small samples of human hair, researchers have uncovered a lasting biological link between a mother's social hormones and the emotional quality of her bond with her child.

A recent study reveals that adults who exceed their ideal family size experience lower emotional well-being. By contrast, people who have fewer children than desired report similar happiness levels to those who meet their parenting goals.

When children watch their parents interact, their brains sync up with the adults via an invisible biological alignment. A new scanning study reveals that this synchronization provides a vital pathway for emotional learning and protects kids against behavioral struggles.