All posts tagged: childhoods

Unpredictable childhoods may hinder a young adult’s ability to take positive risks

A 7-year longitudinal study found that adolescents who experienced more unpredictable life events tend to show higher levels of activation in the frontoparietal region of the brain during a cognitive control task. Because a maturing brain should require less effort to complete these tasks, this higher activation suggests a less efficient brain network. In turn, this inefficiency was associated with a lower willingness to take positive social risks (e.g., exploring a new career, voicing an unpopular opinion, starting a conversation) in young adulthood. The paper was published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. Positive social risks are situations in which a person takes a chance in social life in order to create a positive outcome or long-term benefit. They include actions such as starting a conversation, apologizing first, asking for help, offering help, admitting a mistake, or expressing honest feelings. These actions are “risks” because the other person may reject us, criticize us, misunderstand us, or fail to respond warmly. They are “positive” because they can lead to trust, friendship, cooperation, forgiveness, learning, and stronger …

7 Gentle Phrases People With Difficult Childhoods Say To Themselves Every Day To Start Healing

Published by Jenni Sidey

It’s easy to assume that your inner child is just a cute concept, some vague idea about the younger version of yourself. Yet understanding our inner child helps us face the wounds that we may have received while growing up. Helping our inner child heal means offering ourselves the empathy we may not have gotten when we were actual children. That work is more significant than it might sound. Psychotherapist Joan E. Childs explains about inner child healing, “Every child must feel they matter, otherwise they grow up believing they have no worth.” Doing this work is how we start to rewrite that story. Helping our inner child heal means offering ourselves the empathy we may not have gotten when we were actual children. The mental health Instagram account, I Go to Therapy, shared various ways to approach your inner child and work to overcome the difficulties you experienced in childhood by repeating a few gentle phrases to yourself to start the process of healing. Here are 7 phrases people with difficult childhoods say to themselves every day …

Cannabis use exacerbates paranoia in survivors of chaotic childhoods, new study suggests

Published by José Betancourt

An analysis of Cannabis & Me study data found that childhood trauma, particularly emotional and physical abuse, is strongly associated with paranoia. Furthermore, the study revealed that heavy cannabis use amplifies these symptoms, acting as a multiplier for trauma-induced paranoia. The paper was published in Psychological Medicine. Paranoia is a psychological condition characterized by persistent and irrational distrust or suspicion of others. It involves the belief that other people have harmful intentions, even when there is little or no evidence to support this. Individuals experiencing paranoia tend to interpret neutral or ambiguous situations as threatening or personally directed against them. Paranoia is a core feature of psychotic conditions, such as schizophrenia, delusional disorder, and paranoid personality disorder. Stress, trauma, and substance use—including cannabis—can significantly contribute to the development of paranoia. People experiencing paranoia tend to become socially withdrawn because they find it difficult to trust others, and their relationships often suffer due to constant suspicion and the misinterpretation of others’ actions. Study author Giulia Trotta and her colleagues wanted to explore the relationship between childhood …

How Prince William and Kate Middleton are ‘protecting’ George, Charlotte and Louis’ childhoods in a modern world

Published by Daniella Wilson

The Prince and Princess of Wales may be modern royals, but that doesn’t mean their children have the latest mobile devices. Far from it. The royal parents of three have chosen to keep their kids, Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, ten, and Prince Louis, seven, phone-free. While filming an episode of Apple TV’s The Reluctant Traveler in February 2025, Prince William revealed to Emmy winner Eugene Levy that none of his kids “have any phones,” adding that he and Catherine are “very strict about” that. Though some could perceive the Waleses’ choice as old-fashioned, Jo Frost, a global parenting expert and childcare specialist, calls it a “modern, mindful parenting decision”. “From a professional standpoint I strongly agree with the decision the Prince and Princess of Wales are making. Their approach to holding back on smartphones and limiting their children’s screen exposure is not old-fashioned parenting – it is based on informed, intentional and deeply connected, intuitive parenting,” Jo, who has previously penned The Prince & Princess of Wales Are Truly Dynamic Duo Parents, tells HELLO!. “I …

Study links unpredictable childhoods to poorer relationships via increased mating effort

Published by José Betancourt

People who grew up in harsher or more unpredictable environments tend to report poorer romantic relationships in adulthood, partly because they invest more effort in seeking new partners. This study was published in Evolutionary Psychology. Decades of psychological research demonstrates that early family environments shape adult romantic relationships. Individuals exposed to instability, conflict, or economic hardship in childhood are more likely to experience lower relationship satisfaction and higher conflict later in life. These links have traditionally been explained through attachment theory, which focuses on how early interactions with caregivers shape our expectations about closeness, trust, and emotional security in adult partnerships. Monika Kwiek and colleagues sought to broaden this perspective by integrating attachment theory with life history theory, an evolutionary framework that emphasizes how early environments shape long-term strategies for mating and parenting. While attachment theory centers on emotional bonds, life history theory highlights how people allocate effort toward seeking partners (mating effort) versus investing in children and long-term family life (parenting effort). The researchers recruited 332 Polish adults (average age of 39), who had …

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