Celebrated family therapist John Gottman, Ph.D., of the Gottman Institue, writes in Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child that children whose parents encourage emotional awareness
- have better physical health and score higher academically
- get along better with friends, have fewer behaviour problems, and are less prone to acts of violence
- experience fewer negative feelings and more positive feelings
Furthermore, Dr. Gottman suggests that helping our children develop a higher level of emotional intelligence through building stronger emotional bonds with them can help protect them from a wide variety of maladies such as antisocial behaviour, drug addiction, depression, and family strife.