Scientific Parenting

What Kind of Parent Am I?

Nicole Letourneau

Toxic stress can occur in any home, rich or poor, regardless of age, education, or walk of life. Research has shown that adaptive, supportive parents are the best at insulating their children from all but the biggest catastrophes. Exposure to “toxic stress” in childhood can cause depression, alcoholism, obesity, violent behaviour, heart disease, and even cancer in adulthood. Parents who are less sensitive or attentive or who regularly misinterpret their children’s needs can let too much stress trickle through, or even cause it in the first place, which can carry on to the next generation. What Kind of Parent Am I? uses specially created surveys to identify problem areas for parents. With recommended resources and advice throughout, Dr. Letourneau informs and empowers parents to deal directly with their unique risks and challenges, helping them become the best parents they can be.

Scientific Parenting

Nicole Letourneau

The latest research on child development may hold the key to the parenting of the future. Combining the expertise of its author – a celebrated expert in parent-infant mental health and mother of two – with the latest findings in gene-by-environment interactions, epigenetics, behavioural science, and attachment theory, Scientific Parenting describes how children’s genes determine their sensitivity to good or bad parenting, how environmental cues can switch critical genes on or off, and how addictive tendencies and mental health problems can become hardwired into the human brain. The book traces conditions as diverse as heart disease, obesity, and depression to their origins in early childhood. It brings readers to the frontier of developmental research, unlocking the fascinating scientific discoveries currently hidden away in academic tomes and scholarly journals. Above all, Scientific Parenting explains why parenting really matters and how parents’ smallest actions can transform their children’s lives.