"The corona crisis has led to enormous disruptions in several areas of life, especially for parents of young children aged 3 to 5, who face isolation, disconnection, and unprecedented changes in the way they engage and socialise," writes an interdisciplinary team from the 'Center For Brain Health' at the University of Dallas, Texas.1 Their paper, currently published in Frontiers in Psychology, was timely in this sense. "Fortunately, the brains of children as well as parents are plastic and receptive to change."
Further developing the 'Children's Kindness Network', founded just before the millennium by Ted Drier, they designed and studied a training programme for parents and preschoolers that strengthened the teaching and practice of kindness in the home environment. The creative exercises improved parents' resilience as well as children's empathy and prosocial behaviour. Both resilience and empathy require cognitive skills, such as the competence to react flexibly to stress factors or to consider other perspectives. With these strategies, parents learned to create a brain-friendly environment for their children.
The findings reinforce the idea that kindness can influence cognitive function and overall brain health. Co-author Dr. Julie Fratantoni, PhD, a cognitive neuroscientist at the Center for Brain Health, would encourage parents to take the time to practice kindness for themselves and model it for their children, even in stressful situations. "Don't underestimate the power of kindness, because it can ultimately change and shape brain health."2
We have also known about mirror effects from research for some time. For example, people who appear happy and successful are treated better by others. The search for effective ways to reduce stress and build resilience is now more important than ever for people of all walks of life, ages and professions.
Interventions designed to give people better resources to cope with stressors could especially support families facing stressful events, but also caregivers (e.g. teachers).
"Kindness can strongly promote brain health and increase resilience, not only for parents and families, but for society as a whole," concludes first author Maria Johnson.2