Parental meddling in children's friendships could backfire, according to new research

BOSTON - New research finds that parents should avoid interfering when it comes to their children's friendships.

If a child is behaving badly outside of the home, parents will often blame their peers and tell their child they're no longer allowed to socialize with this friend or that. But a new study says this type of  "maternal meddling" could backfire.

Researchers at Florida Atlantic University followed more than 500 middle school boys and girls over a school year and found that when mothers tried to prohibit their children from having contact with certain "frowned upon" kids, it led to classmates actively disliking, ridiculing, or excluding their children and damaged their children's standing among their peers. This in turn exacerbated the behavior problems that the mothers were trying to avoid in the first place.

They say parents should instead focus on maintaining and fostering positive relationships with other children which can provide a buffer against negative peer pressure.

In:
• Health
• Children

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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