TV Not Responsible For Aggressive Behaviour in Children
Curbing aggression in children in their pre-school years is the key to ensuring they do not grow into violent adults, parents are being warned.Toddlers do not learn aggression from other children, TV, video games or adults, says a leading child psychiatrist. Instead, most are naturally physically belligerent. Professor Richard Tremblay, from the University of Montreal says children reach their peak of aggressive behaviour between 18 and 42 months. If parents fail to intervene at this stage, it could make the difference between a child growing up normally or turning into a violent adult.
"It is not only an indicator of aggression in adulthood but it also leads to other serious behavioural problems such as alcohol and drug abuse, violent crimes and continues the cycle of abusive parenting," . Professor Tremblay warned: "Learning how not to be violent - which mostly takes place during the pre- school years - is dependent on both genetic and environmental factors."
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Studies have found a link between mothers who smoke during pregnancy, and children who never learn to curb their natural aggression, he said. Other risk factors for aggression in children include having parents with low incomes and troubled family relationships, and mothers who had families at an early age or who had a history of anti-social behaviour during their own school years.
Other researchers warned against taking a too simplistic view on aggression in children. Professor Donald Christie, of the University of Strathclyde, said: "I don't think the quality of evidence is robust enough yet to be able to make sweeping generalisations."
Scientists have long debated the causes of aggression. Earlier studies have shown that low levels of brain chemicals such as serotonin and monoamine oxidase A, also known as MAOA, are linked to violent behaviour in humans and animals. The levels of these chemicals are controlled by genes. However, a growing number of studies suggests that inheriting a genetic 'violent streak' is not enough to make someone violent - and that good parenting can outweigh the influence of ' aggression genes'.
A study in 2004 at the U.S. National Institutes for Health found that baby monkeys with low levels of MAOA grew into normal adults if they were raised by good mothers - but developed into aggressive animals if left to fend for themselves with their brothers and sisters. In 2002 a study at King's College, London, of 400 boys found those with low levels of MAOA were more likely to be anti-social - but only if they were abused early in life.
October 2007
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