Parents who exert too much control over their children could be causing them lifelong psychological damage, according to a study which tracked a group of people born in the 1940s until the present day.

一项针对上世纪40年代生人的跟踪调查显示，父母对子女管束过多可能会对下一代造成终生的心理伤害。

Researchers found that people who reported their parents had intruded on their privacy in childhood or encouraged dependence were more likely to have low scores in surveys of happiness and general wellbeing carried out in their teens, their 30s, their 40s and even their 60s.

研究人员发现，那些表示童年时被父母侵犯过隐私或被鼓励依赖父母的调查对象，在他们青少年时期、30多岁、40多岁甚至60多岁时进行的总体幸福感测试中得低分的可能性更大。

The negative impact on wellbeing was comparable in scale to that observed in people who have suffered a bereavement, experts from University College London (UCL) said.

伦敦大学学院的专家表示，家长控制欲过强对幸福感造成的负面影响与痛失至亲对人们产生的负面影响程度相近。

In contrast, people who said their parents were more caring, warm and responsive to their needs tended to be more content well into adulthood.

相比之下，那些说父母关爱体贴、积极响应他们需求的调查对象在成年后往往更心满意足。

The findings are the culmination of a survey which has tracked more than 5,000 people since their birth in 1946. It is well-established that childhood influences can have profound effect on the developing brain, but this is one of the first studies that have attempted to measure their impact over such a long period of time.

通过对5000余名1946年生人进行长期的跟踪调查，研究人员得出了上述结果。众所周知，儿童时期的经历对发育中的大脑会产生深远的影响。不过，这个研究是针对这种影响进行时间跨度这么大的先驱之一。

Information on parenting styles was only available from the study participants themselves, who were asked to recall their childhoods when in their 40s, and may therefore suffer from a degree of so-called recall bias – unhappy people may be more likely to depict their parents as controlling.

有关父母育儿方式的信息全部由研究参与者提供， 40多岁的他们被要求回忆童年，可能会出现一定程度的所谓“回忆偏倚”——不幸福的人更可能将他们的父母描述为控制欲强的人。

However the researchers said the findings chimed with previous studies which have shown that children who are able to form secure emotional bonds with parents are more likely to have secure, happy relationships later in life.

然而，研究者也表示，这项调查的发现与过往研究结论是吻合的。过往研究发现，能够跟父母建立起牢固的情感纽带的孩子，日后感情关系稳固、幸福的可能性更大。

“Parents also give us stable base from which to explore the world while warmth and responsiveness has been shown to promote social and emotional development,” said Dr Mai Stafford, of the Medical Research Council’s (MRC) Lifelong Health and Ageing unit at UCL.

UCL医学研究协会（Medical Research Council，MRC）终生健康与老龄化部门的梅斯塔福德（Mai Stafford）博士说：“家长还为我们提供了稳固的大本营，我们以此为基础探索世界。而关爱和体察他人需求已被证明可以推动社交和情感发展。”

“By contrast, psychological control can limit a child’s independence and leave them less able to regulate their own behaviour.”

“相比之下，心理上的控制会削弱孩子的自立与自律能力。”

Examples of psychologically controlling behaviour identified by the study included invasions of children’s privacy and an unwillingness to let children make their own decisions, and fostering dependence upon one or both parents.

研究指出的心理控制行为包括侵犯孩子隐私、不愿意让孩子自己做决定以及助长孩子对父母的依赖。

Separately, study participants were asked about behavioural control, which included elements of parenting that involve not letting children get their own way: for example, not always allowing them to go out as often as they would like. No links with psychological wellbeing were observed in relation to this kind of parenting.

另外，研究参与者也被问及了行为控制，其中涉及到拒绝孩子自己做主的育儿方式，比如不允许孩子时常外出。研究未发现这类育儿方式与孩子的心理健康有关。

Dr Stafford said that the study did not seek to blame parents.

斯塔福德博士说，研究并不意在指责父母。

“Parents are vitally important to the mental wellbeing of future generations,” she said. “Policies to reduce economic and other pressures on parents could help them to foster better relationships with their children.” Previous research has shown a clear link between economic stress in parents and poorer early child development.

她说：“父母对后代的心理健康发展至关重要。减少父母经济等方面的压力的政策有助于他们改善与子女的关系。”此前有研究表明，家长承受的经济压力与孩子糟糕的早期发育有明显的联系。

The study group were participating in the MRC’s National Survey of Health and Development. Of 5,362 people tracked since 1946, 2,800 remain under active follow-up and complete data was available from 2,000 people by the ages of 60-64.

参加此次医学研究协会全国健康与发展调查的人数达5362，他们从1946年起接受追踪调查。其中2800人积极参与了跟进调查，2000名60到64岁的调查对象提供了完整数据。

The findings are published in the Journal of Positive Psychology.

该调查的发现刊载在《积极心理学期刊》（Journal of Positive Psychology）上。

What's the theory? Parenting styles

育儿经一窥

Slow parenting: allows children to go at their own pace, with little control over what they take an interest in or when they do it.

放养式（Slow parenting）：任孩子以自己的节奏自由发展，几乎不干涉他们何时对什么事情感兴趣。

Helicopter parenting: named for the constantly hovering quality of certain mums and dads, the opposite of slow parenting is characterised by close involvement in a child’s interests and hobbies. First identified in the 60s, the term has come to describe the type of parent who lines up a list of after school activities.

直升机式（Helicopter parenting）：因某些家长像直升机一样时刻盘旋在孩子身边而得名。与“放养式”父母完全不同，他们的一大特点就是密切介入子女的兴趣爱好。此词最早出现在上世纪60年代，现用来指代全权安排课外活动的父母。

Tiger mum: originated in a 2011 book by Chinese-American author Amy Chua about a traditional, strict approach to motherhood that gets results in terms of grades and extracurricular achievement. It also spawned a new term for another breed of parent – the cat dad, who is laid back, stand-offish and slow to anger.

虎妈式（Tiger mum）：此词出自华裔美国作家蔡美儿（Amy Chua）2011年出版的一本书。书中写到母亲采用一种严苛的传统教育方法，令孩子在学业上以及课业外都有所成。“虎妈”还衍生出另一个新词“猫爸”，形容随和、矜持而不易动怒的父亲。