AP31804


 * Science Summary **

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin have recently conducted a case study to see how maltreatment and abuse can affect both a child’s emotional and physical health. In order to collect their data, researchers used a biochemical process called methylation, which measures the degree to which genes are turned on and off. After comparing the DNA of 56 children ages 11 to 14 – half of whom had been physically abused – researchers found a correlation between different parenting styles and a gene that controls crucial aspects of social functioning and health, known as the glucocorticoid gene (Romens). These findings confirmed what previous studies had shown – abused and neglected children are “more likely to develop mood, anxiety, and aggressive disorders, as well as to have problems regulating their emotions” (ScienceDaily). Now that researchers have come up for a scientific reason for the altered behaviors of abused children, we must consider the results from other points of view as well. From a learning aspect, one could argue that abused children, through observational learning, develop certain behaviors later in life because that’s all that they’ve ever known (Wood, 156). According to Barrett’s Law #3, science requires common data. Although more research should be done to confirm the validity of the claims, the information that was found in the study is a major breakthrough in the world of psychology.

Sarah E. Romens, Jennifer McDonald, John Svaren, Seth D. Pollak. **Associations Between Early Life Stress and Gene Methylation in Children**. //Child Development//, 2014;
 * References:**

Society for Research in Child Development. "Maltreatment affects the way children's genes are activated." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 24 July 2014. .

Wood, Samuel E., Ellen R. Green. Wood, and Denise Roberts. Boyd. //Mastering the World of Psychology//. Fourth ed. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2011. Print.

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