Happy Childhood Doesn't Guarantee Good Mental Health, Study Reveals

Although negative experiences in childhood are known to increase the risk of developing mental illness, a recent study has suggested that having a happy childhood isn't exactly the key to good mental health in adulthood.

In the study published in the journal Current Psychology, researchers from the University of South Australia (UniSA), in collaboration with the University of Canberra, examined how early childhood experiences shape one's developmental pathways.

Findings showed that having a happy and secure childhood isn't a foolproof way to ensure a child develops good mental health later on in their development as anxiety or other mental health disorders can be found in people who have had either positive or negative childhood experiences.

The researchers suggested that one's ability — or inability — to adapt to certain situations may be what influences an individual's mental health rather than their life histories.

For the study, Bianca Kahl, lead author and an evolutionary psychologist from UniSA, and her fellow researchers conducted a survey of 343 participants. They were asked about their family and upbringing, as well as "questions probing the nature of their developmental trajectory, mental health, overall wellbeing and the nature of their relationships and attachments today," Science Alert reported.

The researchers confirmed that those who had adverse childhoods were more likely to exhibit signs of poor mental health, including depression and paranoia, but also found that those who were considered to have had stable childhoods were still at risk of developing symptoms of anxiety.

"As the prevalence of mental health conditions expands, it's imperative that we also extend our knowledge of this very complex and varied condition," Kahl said in a statement on UniSA's website.

"This research shows that mental health conditions are not solely determined by early life events and that a child who is raised in a happy home, could still grow up to have a mental health disorder," she continued.

Kahl also went on to explain that there is still more to study and discover before a clear picture of how early life experiences manifest as mental health conditions later on in life can be obtained.

The lead researcher then revealed that the next focus of their study is testing a new hypothesis.

"We suspect that it’s our expectations about our environments and our ability to adapt to scenarios when our expectations are not being met, that may be influencing our experiences of distress," Kahl said.

She continued, "If, as children, we learn how to adapt to change, and we learn how to cope when things do not go our way, we may be in a better position to respond to stress and other risk factors for poor mental health."