How Early Parenting Habits Permanently Shape A Child’s Ability To Feel Joy

A long-term study has identified a critical link between early childhood experiences and the brain’s ability to process rewards, offering new insights into how parenting styles may shape long-term mental health. The research, published in Communications Psychology, suggests that warm and supportive parenting during the preschool years can fundamentally influence how a child’s brain responds to positive stimuli throughout their teenage years and into early adulthood.

Mental health disorders remain a significant public health challenge, with data from the National Alliance on Mental Illness indicating that more than one in five U.S. adults experiences mental illness annually. Furthermore, half of all lifetime mental health conditions begin by age 14. For Kaylin Hill, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor at the University of Notre Dame, identifying the mechanisms behind this vulnerability is essential to breaking the cycle of intergenerational mental health issues.

Hill and her team at the Psychophysiology of Affect across the Lifespan (PAL) Lab monitored 465 participants over 15 years to track the relationship between early home environments and neurological development. The researchers began by observing one-on-one interactions between parents and their 3-year-old children, coding behaviors as either positive—characterized by warmth and encouragement—or negative, marked by harshness or intrusiveness.

To measure the children’s neural development, the team utilized electroencephalogram (EEG) technology at ages 9, 12, 15, and 18. By recording electrical brain activity while the participants engaged in a game involving monetary rewards, the researchers could quantify how the brain responded to winning versus losing. This approach provided a window into “reward processing,” a cognitive function essential for experiencing pleasure, motivation, and well-being.

The findings revealed a distinct trend: children who experienced more positive, supportive parenting at age 3 exhibited a stronger neural response to rewards as they progressed through adolescence. Conversely, children raised in more negative or intrusive environments often demonstrated a blunted reward response. This reduced sensitivity to positive stimuli is a known indicator of increased risk for depression and other mental health conditions.

“We demonstrate that early parenting is associated with one of the largest neural indicators of risk for mental health concerns we know of to date,” Hill explained. The research highlights that the brain learns how to prioritize and respond to joy and satisfaction based on early environmental cues. When these neural pathways are nurtured early, they appear to provide a biological foundation for resilience against future mental health struggles.

The study’s longitudinal nature offers a hopeful perspective for intervention. Because parenting behaviors are malleable, the findings suggest that supporting families early—even before a child is born—could be a powerful tool for public health. By focusing on behavioral support rather than relying solely on genetic predispositions, clinicians may be better equipped to prevent the onset of depression and other disorders.

“There’s something very important about early parent-child interactions and parenting behaviors,” Hill said. “And I love that because behaviors are so much more open to intervention than a genetic explanation to what is driving risk within families.”

While the study provides a significant piece of the puzzle, Hill emphasizes that it is one of many factors contributing to mental health. The team intends for this data to inform broader, evidence-based strategies for fostering healthy emotional development in children, potentially shifting the focus of mental health care from reactive treatment to proactive, developmental support.