Moms and dads who both offer lots of support and reassurance when their young children express negative emotions may not be doing them a favor, new research shows.

Studies in four- and five-year-olds found that the children whose parents reacted with differing levels of support to their emotional setbacks were actually more emotionally mature and handled conflict better, Dr. Nancy L. McElwain of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her colleagues found.

"It's good to give your child some support, but also at the same time some space to manage the problem," McElwain told Reuters Health.

Parents' reactions to a child's negative emotions play a key role in social and emotional growth, McElwain and her team point out in the current issue of Child Development.

Most research has focused on how mothers interact with children, McElwain and her team note. To look at the role of mothers and fathers together, the researchers conducted two experiments, one evaluating children's emotional understanding and the other investigating friendship quality. Parents of children in both studies filled out questionnaires designed to measure their level of emotional support.

Full report: Too much support may hamper kids' development

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