Children of more caring, less controlling parents live happier lives

A UCL-led lifelong study of people in England, Scotland and Wales has found that those who perceived their parents as more caring and less psychologically controlling during their childhood were likely to be happier and more satisfied throughout their lives. Care from both mother and father were found to be equally important predictors of participants' mental wellbeing through to middle age, although paternal care had a greater association with wellbeing in later life (age 60-64). People whose parents exerted greater psychological control during childhood had significantly lower mental wellbeing during adulthood than those with less controlling parents, with an effect size similar to the recent death of a close friend or relative. The study monitored the mental wellbeing of participants in the Medical Research Council (MRC) National Survey of Health and Development between the ages of 13 and 64. The survey tracked 5,362 people since their birth in 1946, of whom 2,800 remain under active follow-up. 3,699 participants had complete wellbeing data at ages 13-15, falling to approximately 2,000 by ages 60-64. Published in The Journal of Positive Psychology, the research highlights how parenting can have long-term positive impacts on wellbeing that continue through to older age.