Yelling At Your Children Is As Hurtful As Hitting Them

By Bill Doyle

I would have guessed kids were more resilient than that, but no, a new study finds that screaming at children does as much damage as hitting them, as reported in the Wall Street Journal. I'm sure a lot of parents have looked at yelling as the preferred alternative to striking their kids, but they'll have to rethink that strategy because the study found that yelling can cause "risk of depression and aggressive behavior."

One of the more troubling findings is that the nice behavior a parent shows to a child doesn't counteract the yelling; "the degree of warmth of the parent-child relationship outside of any altercations didn't alter the negative effects of the harsh verbal discipline". The psychological damage done was found to be akin to pushing or spanking the child.