Warm parenting at age three linked to stronger teen brain reward response, study finds
Representative image: neildodhia / Pixabay
A 15-year Notre Dame-led study of 465 young people, announced October 8, 2026, links positive parenting at age three to stronger reward responses in adolescence.
What Happened
Warm, positive parenting when a child is about three years old is linked to a stronger brain response to rewards as that child grows through adolescence, according to a long-running study led by University of Notre Dame psychologist Kaylin Hill and published in the journal Communications Psychology. The university announced the findings on October 8, 2026. Researchers observed parents and their three-year-olds together, then measured the same children's brain response to rewards at ages 9, 12, 15 and 18. Children who had received more positive parenting showed stronger growth in that response over the years, while those who had experienced more negative parenting showed weaker growth. Because a weak reward response is considered a marker of risk for low mood and depression, the authors say early parenting may matter for later mental health.
Key Facts
- Lead researcher: Kaylin Hill, psychologist at the University of Notre Dame.
- Journal: Communications Psychology, a Nature Portfolio journal; the paper is titled "Early parenting is associated with the development of neural reward responsiveness from childhood through adolescence".
- Participants: 465 young people followed over about 15 years, in a study run at Stony Brook University in New York.
- Funding: a grant from the US National Institute of Mental Health.
- Method: parent-child interactions were observed at age three; brain reward response, a measure known as RewP, was recorded at ages 9, 12, 15 and 18.
- Finding: more positive parenting went with stronger increases in reward response over time; more negative parenting went with weaker increases.
- Stress exposure in childhood was not significantly linked to how reward response developed.
Why It Matters
Being able to feel pleasure and look forward to good things is a basic part of emotional health. When the brain's response to rewards is blunted, people are more likely to experience low mood and lose interest in things they once enjoyed, which are features of depression. This study suggests that the way parents interact with very young children is tied to how strongly that reward system develops through the teenage years, a period when the risk of mental health problems rises.
What makes the study stand out is its length. Following the same children from early childhood to age 18, with repeated measurements, lets researchers see how a brain response changes over time rather than taking a single snapshot. The finding that parenting style, rather than general stress exposure, tracked with these changes gives parents a clear area where everyday behaviour may make a difference.
The study does not show that parenting causes these changes. It finds an association, and other factors, including genes the family shares, could play a part. Still, the message fits a simple, practical idea for families: warmth, praise, shared play and patient attention in the preschool years are worth the effort.
For Indian families, where grandparents and other relatives often share in raising young children, the finding applies to everyone who spends daily time with a toddler. Positive interactions do not need special tools: talking, playing, reading together and responding kindly to a child's feelings are all part of it.
| Point | Detail |
|---|---|
| Age at parenting observation | About 3 years |
| Ages at brain measurement | 9, 12, 15 and 18 |
| Participants | 465 young people |
| Positive parenting | Linked to stronger growth in reward response |
| Negative parenting | Linked to weaker growth in reward response |
Impact
Short-term: The findings give parents, preschool teachers and counsellors fresh evidence for encouraging warm, responsive interaction with young children.
Long-term: If later work confirms the link, early parenting support could become part of efforts to lower the risk of depression in adolescence.
Who is affected: Parents and grandparents of young children, preschool and early-childhood educators, child psychologists and paediatricians.
Key Takeaway
A 15-year study finds that warm parenting at age three is linked to a stronger brain response to rewards through the teenage years, a marker tied to lower risk of low mood.
Questions and Answers
What did the Notre Dame study find?
Children who experienced more positive parenting at about age three showed stronger growth in the brain's response to rewards between ages 9 and 18, while those who experienced more negative parenting showed weaker growth.
Why does the brain's response to rewards matter?
A weak response to rewards is considered a marker of risk for low mood and depression, so a stronger response is generally a healthier sign.
Does this prove that parenting style causes depression later?
No. The study shows an association over time, not cause and effect, and other factors may also play a role.
What counts as positive parenting for a toddler?
In everyday terms, it means warmth, encouragement and responsive attention, such as playing, talking and reading together and responding calmly to a child's emotions.
Disclaimer: Prepared by the Peepals newsroom from publicly available sources with AI assistance. Information is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication and may change. Images may be representative. Not professional advice. Report an error via our contact page.
Sourced and fact-checked by the Peepals Global Editorial Team
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