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Home › Articles › Family › The Glass Is Half Empty

The Glass Is Half Empty

Does Being Around Negativity Affect a Toddler?

By Keath Castelloe Low

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(Thomson Delmar Learning, 2003). "They learn language and acceptable behavior from the people around them. They even pick up gestures and facial expressions. They also absorb the emotional climate in their environment."

If the environment is stressful due to gloom-and-doom comments and negative attitudes about life, it can contribute to poor emotional health for infants and toddlers, Dr. Charlesworth says. "Infant and toddler mental health is an area of great concern," she says. "Good mental health is based on a warm, nurturing, positive relationship with caregivers who model optimistic, confident outlooks."

Ideally, family members should discuss the problem and develop a plan for controlling behavior when in contact with the infant or toddler," Dr. Charlesworth says. "Hopefully, [people with negative attitudes] aren't living in the same residence," she says. "If they are, they may need some help from an outside professional. Parents should try to have calm discussions of problems and engage in loving, playful interactions with infants and toddlers. Adults may not be able to be like Pollyanna, but they can at least work on not being negative."

Parents are the single most powerful influence in a child's life. Thus, it is important for us to model positive behaviors and expose our children to healthy environments. In the words made famous by family counselor and writer Dorothy Law Nolte, "Children learn what they live."

* Last name withheld to protect privacy.


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