How Does Parental Emotional Withdrawal Affect a Child?

Ignoring a child's emotional needs can hinder his emotional growth and other areas of development. An emotionally unavailable parent can leave a child with a wide range of problems that may persist over the long term, explains the American Humane Association. In some cases when emotionally neglected children become parents, the cycle may live on with their own kids.

  1. Significance

    • Ongoing unconditional love pleases and nourishes a baby, who will show her contentment by smiling, babbling or clinging. When a baby misses out on a nurturing and responsive environment, she may have trouble understanding and coping with the emotions of others, and managing her own emotions. Being emotionally nurtured is so critical that infants who are severely deprived of basic emotional needs can fail to thrive and ultimately die even though their physical needs were met, notes the AHA. Babies with less severe emotional deprivation can become anxious and insecure children, be slow to develop and experience low self-esteem.

    Giving Up and Taking Over

    • A baby may give up and stop sending out her attention-seeking cues when a parent has substance abuse or mental health problems that keep him from being emotionally present for his child. For example, when a parent smokes marijuana, he may miss his baby's signals -- such as reaching out to be held or played with -- because the drug slows response time and distorts reality, notes the Child Welfare Information Gateway, a website published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As children get older they may appoint themselves as caregivers of their parents and younger siblings in order to maintain a sense of normalcy in the household.

    Trust and Anger Issues

    • Children who are victims of emotional neglect may have a hard time trusting others, explains the Child Welfare Information Gateway. In addition, creating and keeping relationships can be especially challenging for a child when a parent has withdrawn emotionally. Emotionally neglected children may have a strong urge to lash out at others without regard for how their behavior affects others.

    Considerations

    • When a child's emotional needs go unmet, she may grow up believing that she is not good enough or deficient in some way. Poor self-confidence that can result when a parent is not emotionally present contributes to poorly developed social skills and low academic achievement. Work may suffer as well as a child gets older. Children who grow up with an emotionally withdrawn parent may go onto develop healthy relationships, but it may take years of hard work, possibly including family therapy, to heal the emotional wounds, explains Scholastic.

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