Immature Parents Quotes & Behavioral Health

Emotionally Immature Parents Quotes, Understanding the Mental Health Effects, & Emotionally Immature Treatment


Emotionally Immature Parents Quotes

Emotional instability or immaturity refers to a person’s failure to reach the level of independence or self-reliance seen in a typical adult. As a result, this person uses immature coping mechanisms and is less able to maintain equilibrium under stress than most people who do not possess these negative traits. [1]

Individuals who are emotionally disturbed or unstable are irritable, lack problem-solving skills, and require ongoing assistance to carry out daily duties. Furthermore, they exhibit tenacity and vulnerability while seeking sympathy. They are egotistical, argumentative, childish, self-centered, and demanding.

Psychological abuse by immature parents is related to adolescent mental health problems. It has been described as the most challenging as well as the most prevalent form of child abuse. Psychological abuse is rather difficult to define and assess as compared to physical abuse and may be described as verbal abuse, harsh nonphysical punishments, or threats of abuse. It describes a repeated pattern of adult-to-child behavior (usually a parent) that makes the child feel worthless, flawed, unloved, unwanted, endangered, or only of value in meeting another’s needs. If your parents are willing to work on themselves, addressing issues with a qualified therapist can help them identify their feelings and find healthy coping skills.

Below are selected adult children of emotionally immature parents quotes that can make you feel you’re not alone and may also comfort you.

  1. “If you grew up with emotionally immature parents, you may face your challenges with reciprocity, having learned to give either too much or not enough. Your parents’ self-preoccupied demands may have distorted your instincts about fairness. If you were an internalizer, you learned that to be loved or desirable, you need to give more than you get; otherwise, you’ll be of no value to others. If you were an externalizer, you might have the false belief that others don’t love you unless they prove it by always putting you first and repeatedly overextending themselves for you.” – Lindsay C. Gibson‘s Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents
  1. “Remember, your goodness as a person isn’t based on how much you give in relationships, and it isn’t selfish to set limits on people who keep on taking.” ― Lindsay C. Gibson, Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents
  2. “Parents think we’re too young for love, too old for fun, too smart to play dumb, and too immature for grown-up conversations. Its no wonder teens are so rebellious!” – Unknown
  3. “Age is no guarantee of maturity. I have found that if a person was foolish and immature throughout their lifetime when they reach old age, they are still foolish and immature.” – David Kreger
  4. “Someone told me crying about something was immature. But they don’t know what goes on in my life and how mature I’m being.” – Unknown
Immature Parents Quotes
Emotionally immature parents fear genuine emotion and pull back from emotional closeness. 

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Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents Quotes

Research consistently suggests that psychological abuse from immature parents and neglect in childhood have negative effects on normal development. The experiences of abuse and neglect not only put adolescents at risk for immediate adverse consequences such as poor school performance and increased psychological distress but may also have long-term serious health outcomes such as delinquency, aggression, low self-esteem, anxiety, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression. [2]

Immature Parents Quotes
Family counseling, or family therapy, aims to address psychological, behavioral, and emotional issues that cause family problems.
  1. “I don’t blame some people for being immature…they just weren’t raised right.” – Unknown
  2. “The Golden Rule of Parenting is do unto your children as you wish your parents had done unto you!” –Louise Hart
  3. “My parents loved us but I wasn’t always sure they liked us.” –Tahereh Maf
  4. “The best inheritance a parent can give his children is a few minutes of his time each day.” –O. A. Battista
  5. “So much is asked of parents, and so little is given.” –Virginia Satir
  6. “Parenting is a life time job and does not stop when a child grows up.” –Jake Slope
  7. “We never know the love of a parent till we become parents ourselves.” –Henry Ward Beecher
  8. “A parent’s love is whole no matter how many times divided.” –Robert Brault
  9. “Love your parents. We are so busy growing up, we often forget they are also growing old.” –Unknown
  10. “We don’t always do the things our parents want us to do, but it is their mistake if they can’t find a way to love us anyway.” –J. Courtney Sullivan
  11. “Parents were the only ones obligated to love you; from the rest of the world you had to earn it.” –Ann Brashares
  12. “Love is the chain whereby to bind a child to its parents.” –Abraham Lincoln
  13. “Love your parents and treat them with loving care. For you will only know their value when you see their empty chair.” –Anonymous
  14. “There is no such thing as a perfect parent. So just be a real one.” –Sue Atkins
  15. “Behind every young child who believes in himself is a parent who believed first.” –Matthew Jacobson
  16. “No matter how far we come, our parents are always in us.” –Brad Meltzer
  17. “Children harbor a great many doubts and sorrows that could be eased by a loving hug from a parent.” –Richelle E. Goodrich
  18. “There is no friendship, no love, like that of the parent for the child.” –Henry Ward Beecher
  19. “While we try to teach our children all about life, Our children teach us what life is all about.” –Angela Schwindt
  20. “A good father is a source of inspiration and self-restraint. A good mother is the root of kindness and humbleness.” – Dr. T.P.Chia
  21. “Parenthood…It’s about guiding the next generation, and forgiving the last.” –Peter Krause
  22. “A mother understands what a child does not say.” –Jewish Proverb
  23. “The greatest gift a parent can give a child is self-confidence.” –Stewart Stafford
  24. “If we are wonderful parents and family members, then there’s really nothing else to prove.” –Ron Baratono
  25. “My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.” –Clarence Budinton Kelland
  26. “It is the sunlight of parental love and encouragement that enables a child to grow in competence and slowly gain mastery over his environment.” –Felicity Bauer
  27. “Parents need to fill a child’s bucket of self-esteem so high that the rest of the world can’t poke enough holes to drain it dry.”– Alvin Price
  28. “To be a good father and mother requires that the parents defer many of their own needs and desires in favor of the needs of their children. As a consequence of this sacrifice, conscientious parents develop a nobility of character and learn to put into practice the selfless truths taught by the Savior Himself.”- James E. Faust
  29. “The children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside.” – Whitney Houston
  30. “By loving them for more than their abilities we show our children that they are much more than the sum of their accomplishments.”– Eileen Kennedy-Moore
  31. “Every word, facial expression, gesture, or action on the part of a parent gives the child some message about self-worth.”– Virginia Satir
  32. “If you have never been hated by your child, you’ve never been a parent.” – Bette Davis
  33. “Be the parent today that you want your kids to remember tomorrow.”
  34. “Children learn more from what you are than what you teach them.”– WEB DuBois
  35. “The thing about parenting rules is there aren’t any. That’s what makes it so difficult.” — Ewan McGregor
  36. “When you look at your life, the greatest happiness is family happiness.”– Joyce Brothers
  37. “Love is the chain whereby to bind a child to its parents.”– Abraham Lincoln
  38. “Praise your children openly, reprehend them secretly.”– W Cecil
  39. “If you raise your children to feel that they can accomplish any goal or task they decide upon, you will have succeeded as a parent, and you will have given your children the greatest of all blessings.”– Brian Tracy
  40. “The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.”– Honore de Balzac
  41. “The most beautiful thing in the world is to see your children smiling and knowing that you’re the reason behind their smile.”
  42. “Mother’s love is peace. It need not be acquired; it need not be deserved.”-Erich Fromm
  43. “Love as powerful as your mother’s for you, leaves its own mark to have been loved so deeply .. will give us some protection forever.”-J.K. Rowling
  44. “There really are places in the heart you don’t even know exist until you love a child.”-Anne Lamott
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  1. ”Always kiss your children goodnight – even if they’re already asleep.”-H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
  2. You have to love your children unselfishly. That is hard. But it is the only way.” -Barbara Bush
  3. “A mother understands what a child does not say.” -Jewish proverb
  4. “Even though your kids will consistently do the exact opposite of what you’re telling them to do, you have to keep loving them just as much.”-Bill Cosby
  5. “Parents hold their children’s hands for a little while, but their hearts forever.”
  6. “First your parents, they give you your life, but then they try to give you their life.” ― Chuck Palahniuk
  7. “A good father is a source of inspiration and self-restraint. A good mother is the root of kindness and humbleness.” – Dr. TP Chia
  8. “Parents are the greatest gifts for children to help them find their talents.”
  9. “Our parent’s prayer is the most beautiful poetry and expectations.”– Aditia Rinaldi
  10. “In the happiest of our childhood memories, our parents were happy, too.”– Robert Brault
  11. I wish children could grow according to their natural pace: sleep when sleepy, wake up when rested, eat when hungry, cry when upset, play and explore without being unnecessarily interrupted; in other words, be allowed to grow and blossom as each was meant to. -Magda Gerber
  12. It’s not only children who grow. Parents do, too. As much as we watch what our children do with their lives, they watch us see what we do with ours. I can’t tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it myself. -Joyce Maynard
  13. I’m always amazed when adults say that children “just did that to get attention.” Children who need attention will do all kinds of things to get it. Why not just give it to them? -Lawrence J Cohen
  14. Never fear spoiling children by making them too happy. Happiness is the atmosphere in which all good affections grow. -Thomas Bray
  15. If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn. -Ignacio Estrada
  16. The point of parenting isn’t to have all the answers before we start but to figure it out as our children grow because as they do, so will we. -Bridgett Miller
  17. If your children fear you, they cannot trust you. If they don’t trust you, they cannot learn from you. -Lori Petro
  18. A child seldom needs a good talking to as much as a good listener. -Robert Brault
  19. Feeling heard and understood allows children to release their feelings, let go and move on. -Janet Lansbury
  20. If your children fear you, they cannot trust you. If they don’t trust you, they cannot learn from you. -Lori Petro

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Immature Parents Quotes
Family therapy helps emotionally immature parents understand the effects of their actions to their children.

Quotes About Immature Parents

Abused adolescents were found vulnerable to mental health problems. If you grew up with an emotionally immature, unavailable, or selfish parent, you might have lingering feelings of anger, loneliness, betrayal, or abandonment. You may recall your childhood when your emotional needs were unmet, your feelings were dismissed, or you took on adult levels of responsibility to compensate for your parents’ behavior. These wounds can be healed, and you can move forward in your life. By freeing yourself from your parents’ emotional immaturity, you can recover your true nature, control how you react to them, and avoid disappointment. Finally, you’ll learn how to create positive, new relationships to build a better life.

  1. Children do well if they can; if they can’t, we need to figure out why so we can help. -Ross Greene
  2. You must first teach a child he is loved. Only then is he ready to learn everything else. -Amanda Morgan
  3. Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what. If you don’t listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won’t tell you the big stuff when they are big because, to them, all of it has always been big stuff. -Catherine M Wallace
  4. Children, after all, are not just adults in the making. They are people whose current needs, rights, and experiences must be taken seriously. -Alfie Kohn
  5. There are times as a parent when you realize that your job is not to be the parent you always imagined you’d be, the parent you always wished you had. Your job is to be the parent your child needs, given the particulars of his or her own life and nature. -Ayelet Waldman
  6. Gentle parenting doesn’t involve instantaneous results but naturally achieved, life-long lasting results. -Kirsty Lee
  7. You can’t teach children to behave better by making them feel worse. When children feel better, they behave better. -Pam Leo
  8. It’s time we stop buying the lie that we need to be hard on kids because “the world is hard.” Love them as hard as you can. That’s what they need. -Tara Vogler
  9. My message is very simple. Love your kids. Love them. Love, appreciate, show that you value them, remind them of their greatness, encourage them, respect, honor, trust, and treat them with dignity. -Eric D Greene

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  1. “Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.”– Plato
  2. “Children learn to smile from their parents.”– Shinichi Suzuki
  3. “Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.”– Elizabeth Stone
  4. “The parenting journey holds the potential to be a spiritually regenerative experience for both the parent and the child, where every moment is a meeting of spirits. And both parent and child appreciate that each dances on a spiritual path that’s unique, holding hands and yet alone”. – Dr. Shefali Tsabary
  5. “I got a lot of support from my parents. That’s the one thing I always appreciated. They didn’t tell me I was being stupid; they told me I was being funny.” – Jim Carrey
  6. “The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them.”- Frank A. Clark
  7. “He that spareth his rod hateth his son; but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.”-Bible
  8. “Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.”-Charles R. Swindoll
  9. “There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it.”
  10. “Your kids require you most of all to love them for who they are, not to spend your whole time trying to correct them.”– Bill Ayers
  11. “It is better to bind your children to you by a feeling of respect and by gentleness than by fear.”-Terence
  12. “Affirming words from moms and dads are like light switches. Speak a word of affirmation at the right moment in a child’s life, and it’s like lighting up a whole roomful of possibilities.”-Gary Smalley
  13. “All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my mother.”– Abraham Lincoln
  14. “The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.”- Theodore Hesburgh
  15. “Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.” – Robert Fulghum
  16. “Children are just different from one another, especially in temperament. Some are shy, others bold; some active, some quiet; some confident, others less so. Respect for individual differences is, in my view, the cornerstone of good parent-child relationships.”- Sandra Scarr
  17. Romance fails us, and so make friendships, but the relationship of a parent and child, less noisy than all the others, remains indelible and indestructible, the strongest relationship on earth.”- Theodor Reik
  18. “As a single mom, I’m juggling a lot and working long hours. Yes, it costs them a little, but what my children get in return is a mother who is energized and content.” — Edie Falco
  19. “The best way to advise your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.”– Harry S. Truman
  20. “Children do learn what they live. Then they grow up to live what they’ve learned.”– Dorothy Nolte
  21. “The best kind of parent you can be is to lead by example.”– Drew Barrymore
  22. “There’s always the syndrome of the parent-child relationship: when someone has known you since you were very young, it doesn’t matter how much more independent, how much older or more mature you get – there is still that element, the dynamic of the relationship that is very hard to transform successfully.” – Helene Grimaud

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Emotionally Immature Treatment

Maturity means that a person, animal, or plant has reached their final growth stage. The American Psychological Association defines emotional maturity as “a high and appropriate level of emotional control and expression.” On the other hand, emotional immaturity is “a tendency to express emotions without restraint or disproportionately to the situation.” In other words, emotional behavior that is out of control or inappropriate can be considered immature. It’s more like the emotional reactions you might expect from a child than from your parents.

Emotionally immature people don’t meet society’s expectations for social behavior within their age range. It’s safe to assume that a grown-up will be able to consider their impact on others and pay attention to their feelings. Emotionally mature people can accept criticism and learn from it. Adults with emotional maturity can also think about and plan for the future. People with emotional immaturity, however, struggle with these things.

A family relationship with an emotionally immature individual can be impossible to repair without seeking help. Find someone who can support you through it if that is the situation. A family therapist can assist you in learning healthier communication methods.

Immature Parents Quotes

We hope these “immature parents quotes” give you an idea of having a good family and the downside of having immature parents. People can grow and change. If someone close to you lacks emotional maturity, you might be able to teach them how to act more maturely. If they are unwilling to change, talk to a therapist about self-care strategies for interacting with emotionally immature people. Contact We Level Up FL today for mental health advice and treatment options.

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Sources:

[1] Chaturvedi M, Chander R. Development of emotional stability scale. Ind Psychiatry J. 2010 Jan;19(1):37-40. DOI: 10.4103/0972-6748.77634. PMID: 21694789; PMCID: PMC3105556.

[2] Iram Rizvi SF, Najam N. Parental Psychological Abuse toward children and Mental Health Problems in adolescence. Pak J Med Sci. 2014 Mar;30(2):256-60. PMID: 24772122; PMCID: PMC3998989.

[3] Thomas PA, Liu H, Umberson D. Family Relationships and Well-Being. Innov Aging. 2017 Nov;1(3):igx025. DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igx025. Epub 2017 Nov 11. PMID: 29795792; PMCID: PMC5954612.

[4] Jabbari B, Rouster AS. Family Dynamics. [Updated 2022 Jul 25]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560487/