Positive Childhood Experiences May Improve Mental Health

Several national and state-level organizations have led efforts to increase awareness about the negative impacts of adverse childhood experiences on mental and physical health from childhood through adulthood. These adverse childhood experiences are profoundly negative experiences children can have that include childhood abuse, neglect, witnessing domestic violence, or having a caregiver with severe mental illness or who is in prison, for example.

Adverse childhood experiences are associated with greater risk for depression, anxiety, suicide, substance use problems, and physical health problems like heart disease and cancer in adulthood. In fact, adverse childhood experiences have been named one of the biggest public health crises of our time. This statement is especially concerning considering that around two-thirds of U.S. adults report having at least one adverse childhood experience and over one-third report having two or more, underscoring the widespread nature of the problem.

Positive childhood experiences

Fortunately, we know that we are impacted by more than just the bad experiences we have. For example, having a supportive friend or partner, living in a safe neighborhood, and having access to nutritious food are all things the general public thinks of as positive. And there is research linking each of these positive experiences to better health!

Recent research has been working to identify the types of positive childhood experiences that may play a role in long-term health. One measure of these positive childhood experiences, for example, called benevolent childhood experiences, identifies the following 10 experiences as being good for adult mental health:

1. Having at least one safe caregiver (not all caregivers may be safe, but having at least one is associated with better outcomes)
2. Having one good friend
3. Having comforting beliefs
4. Enjoying school
5. Having one caring teacher
6. Having good neighbors
7. Having an adult who is not a parent or caregiver who can provide support
8. Having opportunities to have fun
9. Having a positive self-concept
10. Having a home routine that is predictable

Recent research has demonstrated that adults with more of these positive or benevolent childhood experiences have fewer mental health problems (Bethell et al., 2019; Narayan et al., 2018), better diet and fewer sleep problems (Crandall et al., 2019), and less risky sex and substance use (Crandall et al., 2020). As a result, there is growing evidence that more of these positive childhood experiences are protective for both mental and physical health in adults.

Positive childhood experiences and COVID-19

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, my collaborators and I wanted to understand whether these positive childhood experiences could be protective for mental health during the pandemic. We were particularly curious whether these positive experiences would predict better mental health even after we accounted for adverse childhood experiences and adult factors like whether they or family members or friends had gotten infected with COVID-19 or had financial difficulties, and how good their current social support was. In a paper that will soon be published in the journal Adversity and Resilience Science, we found that adults with more positive childhood experiences had fewer symptoms of depression, less stress, and were less lonely early in the pandemic compared to adults with fewer positive childhood experiences. These associations remained even after we took into account how much people were affected by the pandemic and how good their social support was.

As a result, it’s not just that people who report more positive childhood experiences also report better current situations. It seems like there is something special about these childhood experiences that is particularly related to better adult mental health during a pandemic. Adverse childhood experiences were only associated with greater symptoms of depression, so it appears that positive childhood experiences are related to a wider range of outcomes than the adverse experiences that we typically hear about!

Although we cannot say that positive childhood experiences cause improved mental health, this growing evidence suggests that increasing positive childhood experiences could lead to better mental health when children become adults. Identifying people who have had low numbers of positive childhood experiences—even if they didn’t have a lot of negative experiences—could be helpful for targeting support to the people who need it most during big stressors like a global pandemic.

Child Development Essential Reads

16 Signs That Your Childhood Home Life Was Difficult

The Path to Strategic Unpredictability

Practical steps to increase positive experiences:

One good thing is that these positive experiences do not require anything extraordinary to implement. For example, you don’t need a million dollars to have a friend or a caregiver who cares about you. The following are some steps for increasing or strengthening positive childhood experiences to potentially improve their later mental and physical health:

1. It is important to educate parents about the types of experiences that children should have that are associated with better mental and physical health in adulthood. For example, having caregivers, friends, and mentors who the child knows are there for them no matter what is extremely important, so caregivers can help facilitate and strengthen these relationships. In addition, having a predictable routine at home and providing opportunities for fun are ways that caregivers can increase positive childhood experiences.
2. Knowing what types of experiences are most important to foster in children helps us decide what resources we should provide to caregivers. For example, providing parents with financial resources to help them be there for their child, such as a living wage or paid time off, will allow them the time to be able to be there for their child instead of having to work multiple jobs. In addition, these resources may reduce financial strain on caregivers, which would allow them more mental space to be present and responsive to children without having to worry about money.
3. Therapy for adults that strengthens positive childhood memories could be a resource for adults to access during difficult times. Strengthening these positive childhood memories could also lay a foundation for creating more positive experiences for their own children, which may improve mental health in the next generation.

Taking time to reflect on positive childhood experiences could be particularly helpful for boosting your mood and feeling better during these stressful times. And increasing these positive experiences for children in your own life may be a great way to improve mental health for the next generation!