Positive family relationships across 30 years: Predicting adult health and happiness.

Abstract

In this prospective study, we examined the link between positive family relationships during childhood and adolescence and health and happiness three decades later in middle adulthood. We also investigated the stability of positive family relationships into adulthood as one possible pathway underlying this long-term association. Data were from the Fullerton Longitudinal Study (FLS) an ongoing investigation in the United States initiated in 1979 when children were aged 1 year with the most recent data collected in 2017. A crossinformant methodology was employed in which mothers and children independently completed the Positive Family Relationships (PFR) scale annually when children were of ages 9-17 years. When study children reached age 38, they reported on their current PFR, global health, and comprehensive happiness. Structural equation models revealed that children's perceptions of the family during childhood and adolescence predicted both their health and happiness at age 38. Mothers' perspectives of PFR predicted greater adult children's health, but did not predict their happiness. Associations were independent of family socioeconomic status, gender, intelligence, and extraversion. Moreover, while controlling for behavior problems (proxy for health) and happiness at age 17, both children's and mothers' early PFR related to PFR at 38 years, which in turn, predicted increased health and happiness at age 38, thus providing evidence for a pathway underlying this long-term connection. Our prospective findings revealed that families in which members get along well and support each other during the childhood and adolescent years furnish a foundation for positive family relationships in adulthood, which are associated with greater health and happiness.

Latent profile analysis of adolescent temperament: Relations to happiness and health in adulthood

“…By using the NRM, the CHS contains only uniquely informative items consisting of exclusively discriminating response categories which optimized the accuracy of measuring the construct. The CHS includes 15 items with two, three, or four response categories ranging from “Not at all Happy” to “Very Happy.” For additional psychometric information and specific items, see Preston et al (2022) and Ramos et al (2022).…”

“…The CHS includes 15 items with two, three, or four response categories ranging from "Not at all Happy" to "Very Happy." For additional psychometric information and specific items, see Preston et al (2022) and Ramos et al (2022).…”

Psychosocial Factors Associated with Happiness

“…Smetana and colleagues [39] suggest that our familial relationships often create the foundation for our support system especially during childhood and adolescence. Children with supportive and healthy family relationships during childhood and adolescence tend to have better health outcomes and greater overall happiness in adulthood [40]. It also appears that the more stable these positive family relationships are from childhood to adulthood, the more general happiness increases later in life which shows that early positive family relationships are directly linked to health and happiness in later life stages [40].…”

“…Children with supportive and healthy family relationships during childhood and adolescence tend to have better health outcomes and greater overall happiness in adulthood [40]. It also appears that the more stable these positive family relationships are from childhood to adulthood, the more general happiness increases later in life which shows that early positive family relationships are directly linked to health and happiness in later life stages [40]. When children have positive family relationships it also helps to increase the child's emotional security, thereby decreasing the risk for emotional dysregulation, hostility, and aggression which are directly associated with poor physical health and psychological functioning [41].…”

Family interaction, psychological capital, and health risk——How family affect individual’s health outcome

“…Positive family interaction contributes to harmonious family relationships and improves the quality of family relationships [9]. Many kinds of research indicated that healthy family relationships could bring happiness, security, and life satisfaction to family members [10] and have a protective effect on the mental health of individuals [11,12]. For example, studies have shown that adolescents in families containing all high-quality family relationships experienced lower levels of loneliness [13].…”