Studies have shown that talking with family members develops the prefrontal cortex more than talking with others. The reason is believed to be that the brain relaxes and works better because you can talk with more confidence.
So what positive effects do parent-child conversations have on the brain?
A 2015 research survey on family communication “Project on Scientific Research on Learning Motivation” by Tohoku University’s Institute of Development, Aging and cancer (IDAC) and the Sendai City Board of Education can provide some insight.
The research showed that children who think “they are being listened by people at home” tend to have higher self-esteem. The group with increased communication within the the family had higher self-affirmation in one year, whereas the group with reduced family communication had lower self-affirmation. Perhaps being recognized by family members can help a child become more confident.
However, although the amount of conversation time is important, the quality of communication that children have with family members is much more important. Parents may think they are having a conversation, but the child may feel that they are not being “heard”, and of children themselves are not satisfied with the conversation, then the quality is not high.
The key to improving conversation quality is for parents to listen when their children want to be heard. For that purpose, it is important to watch a child’s daily expression and behavior, and to determine the timing of a “conversation”.