It is known, for example, that abusive parents were often victims of abuse during their own early years. Research has also shown that parents who were raised in families with multiple problems frequently have difficulty managing stress once they have their own children. Chart 3 shows that low-income parents are twice as likely as those with high incomes to have experienced childhood traumas such as their parents' divorce, alcohol or drug abuse, physical abuse, or expulsion from the home for misbehaviour. Chronic stress Parents experiencing chronic stress are far more likely to be distracted, hostile and abusive towards their children than are parents who feel happy and in control of their lives. It has also been found that adolescents living with chronically stressed parents are more likely than other youth to have emotional and behavioural problems.
Chronic stress can also lead parents to feel depressed and anxious.
As Chart 4 shows, low-income parents are four times more likely to feel chronically stressed than parents with high incomes. The chart represents parents whose stress levels were among the highest 10 per cent reported by all parents. The proportion then levels off, and falls gradually again among the highest-income earners. Exposure to adult smokers in the home Children who are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke have a greater likelihood of experiencing acute and chronic respiratory illnesses, including asthma, pneumonia and bronchitis. They are also at a greater risk of having impaired lung functioning and they are more than three times as likely to suffer chronic middle ear infections than other children.