As our individual lives progress we learn that the choices we make contribute to who we become. The places we go, the people we meet, and the pains we endure are some of the many things that shape us into who we are. The influence on our individuality begins at a much earlier age with the first person we meet, our mother. The negative effects of a mother-child relationship impact an individual significantly. The psychological experiences from the relationship follow the individual from adolescence into adulthood and determine how the individual perceives life. The mother-child relationship is the only relationship one can have before entering the world. Since the sperm fertilized the egg and the human fetus began to grow, we depended on her. A mother is the first person that cares for the child, and is who the child wants when they are unhappy or uncomfortable. In the eyes of a child, a mother is a superhero that can do anything, and can make everything better. Although a big part of a mother’s job is to be responsible for the physical being of the child, she is also responsible for the psychological well-being. According to William Burke and Brett Larson who are authors of Mother and Adolescent Reports of Associations Between Child Behavior Problems and Mother-Child Relationship Qualities, a journal of abnormal child psychology wrote “….adolescent perceptions of maternal hostility and negativity are linked to aggression and conduct problems.” This statement shows that a mother’s negative actions will affect the child psychologically. Any type of reaction that comes from the mother, the child will take to heart. When the mother expresses disappointment, the child’s self-esteem is affected. In a healthy disciplinary situation the bad things pointed out by the mother should end with encouragement for the child to do better next time. However, if the disappointment is shown without any encouragement the
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