Parents' psychiatric diseases can cause violent behaviour among kids: study

Children learn much more from what they observe and hear while growing up, rather than what they are taught. This is exactly why parents are supposed to conduct themselves in a certain manner and set an example that their children can follow in future.

But apart from the behaviour of parents, it seems that genes also play an important part in shaping the way a child thinks and acts. Psychiatric ailments including mood disorders in parents can cause increased suicidal tendencies and also lead to violent behaviour among children.

A study observed the relation between different psychiatric disorders in parents and suicidal thoughts among their children, and found that such thinking and violent acts went up in children with each mental disorder among parents due to genetics and epigenetics.

While mood disorders were seen as causing the lowest increase in risk of violent behaviour among children, the study also said that the environment children grow up in plays an important part since they are exposed to maladaptive parenting practice, family violence, abuse, neglect and financial hardship.

The research included more than 1.7 million people who were born between 1967 and 1997, as they followed up from their 15th birthday and found that 2.6% attempted suicide while 3.2% were convicted for violent crimes.