Can Peer Pressure Affect Your Child's Mental Health?

Making wise decisions and taking responsibility for our actions is critical to helping us avoid peer pressure and prevent ourselves from getting into unwanted situations. As individuals, we must remain true to ourselves and must be self-aware at all times.

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Peers play a pivotal role in socioemotional development of children & adolescents as their influence can be very strong during a child’s teenage years. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, it is natural, healthy and important for children to have friends as they grow and mature. However, peers can have both positive as well as negative influences on your child. Some peers can be supportive and encouraging and can have positive influence your child (like help to study and prepare for exams and can keep them away from bad habits) whereas, certain kind of peer pressure may make the child succumb to bad habits/ at risk for behaviours that can have drastic consequences on your child’s mental health.

As a parent, you play a huge role in supporting your child’s mental well-being. Building a strong nurturing and loving foundation can help your child in developing the right social and emotional skills which can help them in making the right decisions and lead a happy, healthy and fulfiling life. Hence it is relevant for you to discuss and understand how peer pressure can affect your child’s mental health and how you can best help them to navigate through it.

What is the cause of peer pressure and how can it affect your child’s mental health?

Social acceptance is one of the most important developmental milestones for children in the age group 12-19 years. Children in this age group want to feel

accepted, be popular, gain recognition and be a part of the “cool’’ group. This often gives them the required independence from authoritative figures in their lives and provides them with a sense of autonomy and self-identity.