Article Summary: Developmental Psychology Articles
Within the first selected article, Stress Processors Linking to Parent-Child Disconnection
to Disease Risk in Young Adulthood-Amplification by Genotype, authors Bae and Wickrama
present a strong argument regarding the connection between a weak family unit identified in
early childhood and the susceptibility of poor health in young adulthood. Bae and Wickrama
hypothesize that if a child does not have a supportive family unit early on in life, then that child
is prone primarily to develop physiological diseases, some of which can ultimately be life-
threatening.
The authors have conducted numerous studies to support this article's hypothesis. Parents
who present stressful living environments and show little to no affection tend to have children
who become isolated and withdrawn. Such an environment can harm how a child may interact
in school, among peers, and even in their overall cognitive behavior. “Adverse parent–child
relationships in early years and stressful life experiences in later years can be considered as two
psychologically distinct constructs, both of which contribute to young adults’ health outcomes
through different etiological processes (McCutcheon et al. 2010)”, (Bae & Wickrama, pg.2,
2017).
The hypothesis presented by the authors of the selected article is that if a child is
provided with a strong family dynamic early on in life that constructively address stressor, then
that child will have the ability to better handle confrontation, future life stressors, obtain healthy
relationships, and will have a lesser chance of suffering from various diseases that can be
brought on by stressors that are poorly handled.
Researchers Bae and Wickrama sought to prove their hypothesis by measuring the
disconnection between parent and child utilizing a relationship measurement report. Within the
