According to an Australian study published online in the Journal of Happiness Studies, the key to adults’ well-being is positive social relationships during childhood.

Associate Professor Craig Olsson from Deakin University and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Australia and his team investigated the origins of well-being in adulthood based on experiences made during childhood and adolescents, and discovered that academic achievement seems to have little impact on adult well-being.

Researchers only have very little knowledge on the impact factors during a person’s childhood and adolescent development, like academic and social-emotional function can have on adult well-being. The team defined adult well-being as a combination of characteristics, including positive coping strategies, social engagement and self-perceived strength.

The team evaluated data from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study (DMHDS) in New Zealand, which included 804 participants that were followed up for 32 years to assess the relative importance of early academic and social pathways to adult well-being.

They focused their study on measuring the relationship between the level of family disadvantage, social connectedness and language development in childhood, as well as social connectedness and academic achievement during adolescence and well-being in adulthood. Social connectedness in childhood was defined through parent and teacher ratings of whether the child was liked, not a loner and its confidence level, whilst in adolescence it was defined as the social attachment with parents, other teens, school, confidants as well as participating in sports and youth groups.

The team discovered a strong pathway from child and adolescent social connectedness to adult well-being on one side, which demonstrates the enduring importance of positive social relationships from childhood to adulthood, whilst the other side showed that the pathway from early language development through adolescent academic achievement into adult well-being was weak. This confirms results of existing studies that have found that there is no link between socioeconomic prosperity and happiness. The findings also indicate no intimate relationship between the two pathways, although they may run parallel to each other.

The researchers conclude: “If these pathways are separate, then positive social development across childhood and adolescence requires investments beyond development of the academic curriculum.”

Written by Grace Rattue