3)Effects on children

Children of dysfunctional families, either at the time, or as they grow older, may also:^[12]

• Lack the ability to be playful, or childlike, and may "grow up too fast"; conversely they may grow up too slowly, or be in a mixed mode (e.g. well-behaved, but unable to care for themselves)
• Have moderate to severe mental health issues, including possible depression, anxiety,^[17] and suicidal thoughts
• Become addicted to smoking, alcohol, and/or drugs, especially if parents or friends have done the same
• Bully or harass others, or be an easy victim thereof (possibly taking a dual role in different settings)
• Be in denial regarding the severity of the family's situation
• Have mixed feelings of love–hate towards certain family members
• Become a sex offender, possibly including pedophilia.^[18]
• Have difficulty forming healthy relationships within their peer group (usually due to shyness or a personality disorder)
• Spend an inordinate amount of time alone watching television, playing video games, surfing the Internet, listening to music, and other activities which lack in-person social interaction
• Feel angry, anxious, depressed, isolated from others, or unlovable
• Have a speech disorder (related to emotional abuse) ^[19]
• Distrust others or even have paranoia
• Become a juvenile delinquent and turn to a life of crime (with or without dropping out of school), and possibly become a gang member as well
• Struggle academically at school or academic performance declines unexpectedly
• Have low self-esteem or a poor self image with difficulty expressing emotions
• Rebel against parental authority, or conversely, uphold their family's values in the face of peer pressure, or even try to take an impossible "middle ground" that pleases no one
• Think only of themselves to make up the difference of their childhoods (as they are still learning the balance of self-love)
• Have little self-discipline when parents are not around, such as compulsive spending, procrastinating too close to deadlines, etc. (unfamiliar, inchoate, and seemingly lax or avoidable real-world consequences vs. known, concrete, and rigidly imposed parental consequences)