Perceived rejection and neglect by children can actually have neurological effects where the brain chemistry of the child gets affected. It can also make them predisposed to cerebral infraction during old age. Rejection can lead to depression among the children and also more prone to substance abuse which can lead to further physiological damage. Such rejection can also be associated with the feeling of physical pain. 

New York University

Rejecting-Neglecting Parenting styles have a range of potentially lifelong psychological effects on the children who experience it. These effects range from development of attachment styles, their close interpersonal relationships, self-esteem, world perspectives and in some cases even neurological effects. These can be observed from an outsider perspective but largely dependent on the subjective experience of the child.  In extreme cases there can also be physiological and neurobiological manifestations like depression and predisposition to neurological conditions.  

Psychological Effects of Rejecting-Neglecting Parenting 

Overview of parental acceptance-rejection theory (partheory) - Craig Barlow. (n.d.). Retrieved August 7, 2022, from https://craigbarlow.co.uk/_webedit/uploaded-files/All%20Files/Risk/INTRODUCTION-TO-PARENTAL-ACCEPTANCE-3-27-12.pdf 

Parental Acceptance Rejection Theory 

Widom, C. S., Czaja, S. J., Kozakowski, S. S., &amp; Chauhan, P. (2018, February). Does adult attachment style mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental and physical health outcomes? Child abuse &amp; neglect. Retrieved August 7, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5685930/ 

Parenting and Attachment Style

Neurological, Psychiatric and Physiological Manifestations


Manifestations of the rejecting-neglecting parenting styles on personality traits and characteristics can have strong on other close interpersonal relationships held by the individua’s. For example, children who experience rejection, in light of the physical pain and hurt it causes are likely to close themselves off  out of fear of further rejection which can reinforce the increasing resentment. This can lead to closing oneself from affection in other relationships as well, where they start to believe that they do not need to rely on anyone, just to avoid any further rejection. This leads to pre-existing anger and resentment preceding the nascent of close relationships and inhibiting their healthy development. In other cases, like a child experiencing neglect often even the reverse can happen. Children can constantly seek the acceptance of the caregiver which leads to an unhealthy dependency and craving for support that can shape the stability of future interpersonal relationships. 

Personal Relationships 

It is commonplace to find that children who experience rejection and neglect tend to adapt their own self-view to that which their caregiver holds of them, often deeming themselves to be unworthy of the love and affection that they may not be receiving. This low self-esteem can also translate to a diminished ability to satisfy one’s own needs and the capability pertaining to performing such tasks. This kind of self-perception can also affect their stability thereby reducing their ability deal with negative emotions and restrict their capacity to respond and adapt to stressful events. 

Self Esteem

It is both common and possible to overcome the psychological damage of parental abuse and neglect, however this depends both on the individual predispositions as well as environment around them. The ability to cope with the psychological effects can come from self-determination, where individuals have a perceived sense of self separate from their situation, and that they have the ability to somewhat control their circumstances based on their own attributes. Even those who cope tend to do so in different ways. Some children who have experienced rejection have the ability to maintain good well-being based on internal faculties like resilience (affective copers) whereas others cope through tasks, career success and validation as coping mechanisms (instrumental copers). Overall, external experiences like careers and other close interpersonal relationships alongside psychological treatment can help people who experienced neglecting-rejecting parenting overcome most of the intense damage   caused by their childhood. Coming out of their childhood environment often helps them cope better as they grow up but their mental health may still not be the same as children who enver experienced rejecting-neglecting parenting.  

Overcoming Psychological Effects 

The psychological effects of experiencing rejection and neglect like negative self-perception and instability in relationships can also lead to a negative perception of the world as well. The world, its people and its events can be perceived to be unwelcoming, unfriendly, unpleasant and inherently tough- in line with the upbringing and environment of the child’s years. This can also extend to supernatural and religious beliefs. When people start to view events through the lens of  this constructed representation of the world it can also decrease their trust in relationships and people and phenomenon of the world in general. They would be more likely to interpret events, situations and people’s intentions in the least generous way (looking to detect betrayal, rejection, ill intentions). 

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