Source: Center for BrainHealth
Kindness is powerful and does not just affect the recipient’s feelings—kindness can also impact an entire family’s brain health.
A
cross-disciplinary team of researchers and clinicians from Center for
BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas sought to understand
whether an online kindness training program improves preschooler’s
prosocial behaviors and their parents’ resilience during the COVID-19
pandemic.
The findings were published recently in Frontiers in Psychology by BrainHealth researchers Maria Johnson, MA, director of Youth &
Family Innovations; Julie Fratantoni, Ph.D., cognitive neuroscientist
and head of operations for The BrainHealth Project; Kathleen Tate, MA,
clinician; and Antonia Moran, a graduate student at UT Dallas.
The team discovered that teaching and practicing kindness at home improves both parents’ resilience and children’s empathy.
The
researchers studied the impact of an online kindness training program,
adapted from the curriculum of Children’s Kindness Network, founded by
Ted Drier, on 38 mothers and their 3- to 5-year-old children.
The
program, “Kind Minds with Moozie,” features five short modules where a
digital cow (“Moozie”) describes creative exercises that parents can do
with their kids to teach kindness.
“We
aim to encourage parents to engage in practical, brain-healthy
interactions with their children that aid in a better understanding of
one another, especially during times of stress,” said Johnson.
“Research
shows that kindness is a strong potentiator of vibrant social
engagement, which in turn is a critical component of overall brain
health.”
To
determine how kindness influences brain health, the team asked parents
to survey their own resilience and report on their kids’ empathy before
and after the training program.
They
found that parents are more resilient and preschoolers are more
empathetic after kindness training. Both resilience and empathy require
cognitive skills like responding well to stressors or considering
different perspectives.
Their findings therefore support the idea that kindness can influence cognitive function and overall brain health.
Surprisingly,
the researchers found that children’s empathy levels remained below
average despite the noticeable improvement after training. This might be
because COVID-19 safety measures significantly limited kids’ normal
social and emotional learning.
The researchers also tested whether understanding the science behind the kindness training program affects parents’ resilience.
A
random group of 21 participating mothers received a few additional
paragraphs to read on the brain’s flexibility and plasticity, but the
researchers did not find any differences in the parents’ level of
resilience, or their children’s empathy, with the addition of brain
science teachings.
Parents
can learn simple strategies for practicing kindness effectively, right
in their own home, to create a brain healthy environment for their kids.
“In times of stress, taking a moment to practice kindness for yourself
and model it for your children can boost your own resilience and improve
your child’s prosocial behaviors,” said Fratantoni.
“Do not underestimate the power of kindness, because it can ultimately change and shape brain health.”
The
impacts of kindness may even extend beyond families. “Kindness can be a
powerful brain health booster that raises resilience, not only for
parents and families, but for society as a whole,” said Johnson.
About this kindness and brain health research news
Author: Gina Mantica
Source: Center for Brain Health
Contact: Gina Mantica – Center for BrainHealth
Image: The image is in the public domain
Original Research: Open access.
“Parenting With a Kind Mind: Exploring Kindness as a Potentiator for Enhanced Brain Health” by Maria Teresa Johnson et al. Frontiers in Psychology
