8 Ways Your Childhood Affects Your Lifestyle

Hi everyone, today's video is made possible by Audible. Use our link audible.com slash psych2go or text psych2go to 500-500 to get a free book and two audible originals and a 30-day trial. Do you ever wonder about how you turned out the way you are? Or why some adults are more uptight than others while others are fun and delightful? As cliche as it sounds, it all comes back to your childhood. Depending on the households we grew up in, some of us may cringe at the thought while others may look starry-eyed as they grow nostalgic. Before we begin with this video, we want to remind you that it's never too late to change your future, even if certain past events put you in a stronger likelihood of outcomes. Here are 8 ways your childhood affects your lifestyle. 1. If your parents were highly strict, you may grow up to be codependent. Did you have an overbearing mother who picked out every outfit for you or an inflexible father who made you practice more sports instead of hanging out with your friends? Even if they mean well or believe that they're doing what's best for you, helicopter parenting has harmful side effects, a big one being that you're more likely to grow up codependent. As an adult, you might rely on your partner to take care of the chores or have trouble adapting to work life. 2. If your parents have a broken marriage, it changes your romantic demands. It's like Pam said from The Office, when you're a kid, you assume your parents are soulmates. But unfortunately, this isn't always the case. Divorce rates are skyrocketing in America, now up to 40-50% of married couples more likely to end up in a divorce. If your parents separated, especially if the event happened during your early childhood, studies show that you're prone to having higher demands when it comes to romantic relationships. You may expect your partner to show a higher degree of morality, loyalty and compassion so you can trust them better. 3. If your parents micromanaged you, you're more likely to develop depression. Okay, we talked about codependency, but depression is also a damaging side effect of authoritarian parenting. When you grow up with parents who do all the decision-making for you, it makes you assume that you're not competent enough to problem-solve on your own. Instead of listening to you and nurturing you to learn from your mistakes, they often force decisions onto you, even ones that make you unhappy. This can lead to feelings of worthlessness and low self-esteem which follow you into adulthood, manifesting into depression. 4. If your parents watch TV with you when you were a toddler instead of reading to you, it can suppress your communication skills. We always see those commercials of mothers reading to their babies, but this advertisement actually has value. It turns out that if your parents expose you to more television as a toddler instead of flipping through books, this can hinder your communication skills. Studies have shown that when a mother and child watch TV together, the mother makes fewer comments to the child, whereas if she reads to her child, it promotes the child to ask questions and a higher response rate from the mother. 5. If you copied your parents a lot, you're more likely to be open to other cultures. Did you often imitate your parents growing up? Even if the actions didn't always make sense, you knew that they had some sort of purpose. Researchers had an adult show a child how to open a box with sticks. Even though it's more practical to use their fingers, when children imitate the behaviors of their parents, they're more likely to adapt to cultural norms. That's because cultural beliefs and customs may not always be seen as practical and can even be outdated, but when the individual is open to learning them, they also have the ability to be more culturally aware. 6. If you were spanked as a child, you may become sneakier as an adult. In some countries, it is now illegal to spank your child because it's seen as physical abuse. Depending on the severity of spanking, it has harmful side effects ranging from academic problems to health ones such as dying at a younger age of cancer, heart diseases, and respiratory diseases. But did you know that you're also more prone to being a sneaky adult? Author Daniel Pink states that trying to influence a child's behavior by offering rewards and punishment does not always result in the desired behavior. In fact, children who were spanked may work harder to avoid being punished. 7. If your parents have a drug or alcohol addiction, you're susceptible to perfectionism. Do you know someone who is serious, has a good work ethic, and is a bit of a perfectionist? Chances are they might have grown up being a parent to their own parents. When a child has parents who are alcoholics or drug addicts, they never had the opportunities to let loose and have fun. Instead, they had to grow up faster than the other children and take care of household responsibilities. On the other hand, some children may adopt the habits of their parents which can manifest into depression, anxiety, and feelings of worthlessness. 8. If you have a close relationship with your father, you're more likely to enter healthier relationships. We've all probably heard of the term daddy issues when someone grew up without a father around. Unfortunately, research only continues to show it's true. One study examined the quality of father-child relationships among three groups, orphans, children of divorced parents, and children in stable families. Results showed that the children, whether they were male or female, with a close relationship with their father was more common than those who didn't. When we are able to love our parents and learn to be patient with them, we are more likely to do the same for our romantic partners. Could listening make you a better person? There's never been a better time to start listening on Audible. With Audible, you get access to an unbeatable selection of audiobooks, including bestsellers, motivation, mysteries, thrillers, memoirs, and more. Audible has the largest selection of audiobooks on the planet, and now with Audible Originals, the selection has gotten even more custom with content made for members. Right now, we're reading Work Stronger, Habits for More Energy, Less Stress, and Higher Performance at Work by Pete Leibman. The author, being a psychology major himself, really taps into the psychological aspects of how stronger habits form to help us be more productive. Audible members can choose three titles every month, one audiobook and two Audible Originals you can't hear anywhere else. Listen on any device, anytime, anywhere, at home, at the gym, on your commute, or just on the go. You'll also enjoy easy audiobook exchanges, rollover credits, and an audiobook library you keep forever, even if you cancel. Audible, the most inspiring minds, the most compelling stories, the best place to listen. Get started with a 30-day trial when you go to audible.com slash psych2go or text psych2go to 500-500 and listen for a change. That is A-U-D-I-B-L-E dot com slash P-S-Y-C-H 2-G-O or text psych2go to 500-500. That is A-U-D-I-B-L-E dot com slash P-S-Y-C-H 2-G-O or text P-S-Y-C-H 2-G-O to 500-500. Which of these points do you relate to? Did you know that your childhood can also affect your lifestyle? Check out our video here. Thanks for watching!