Violent Toddler Alert To Stop Aggressive Adults

Demonique

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/skynews/20071016/tuk-violent-toddler-alert-to-stop-aggres-45dbed5.html

Parents who fail to stop their toddlers lashing out at other children risk creating the next generation of violent criminals, scientists have warned.

Mothers who smoke during pregnancy and parents on low incomes are also more likely to find their children become aggressive, the researchers found.

Professor Richard Tremblay, from the University Of Montreal in Canada, said violent behaviour in children was an indicator of aggression in adulthood.

He said: "It also leads to other serious behavioural problems such as alcohol and drug abuse, violent crimes and continues the cycle of abusive parenting."

Efforts to prevent child violence should focus on improving parenting, the professor said.

Studies show infants aged three to four years old are more physically aggressive than adults.

He said: "Learning how not to be violent, which mostly takes place during the pre-school years, is dependent on both genetic and environmental factors.

"These range from the type of parental care a child receives to whether its mother smoked when pregnant.

"Research has shown, for example, that nicotine affects the development of areas of a baby's brain which are responsible for emotional control.

"The early years of human development are on 'fast forward' and it is during this time period that physical aggression increases most dramatically and environment plays a very important role in the extent to which physical aggression develops or is controlled."