“Kids with empathetic parents have well-documented advantages: less depression, less aggression, more empathy themselves. Parents also report better self-esteem when they make the effort to understand their children’s feelings.
“But inside, it’s tearing them up.
“A team from Northwestern University has examined the hidden costs of parental empathy.
“They found that while the children of empathetic parents are better off physically and emotionally, the parents’ cells reveal chronic, low-grade inflammation. When their children suffer psychologically, empathetic parents’ immune systems take a hit.
“Researchers surveyed 247 pairs of parents and their adolescent children on how often and to what degree parents could understand their children’s feelings and respond with appropriate concern.
“They also took blood samples. Empathetic parents and their children were both better off psychologically.
“Children of empathetic parents also showed lower levels of inflammatory markers. Their parents were just the opposite.”
Read more at QZ.com
