These memories are linked to good mental health.
Fond memories of childhood are a sign of good mental health in adulthood.
In particular, memories of warm parental relationships are linked to lower depression and fewer chronic illnesses in adulthood.
Dr William J. Chopik, the study’s first author, said:
“We know that memory plays a huge part in how we make sense of the world—how we organize our past experiences and how we judge how we should act in the future.
As a result, there are a lot of different ways that our memories of the past can guide us.
We found that good memories seem to have a positive effect on health and well-being, possibly through the ways that they reduce stress or help us maintain healthy choices in life.”
Affection and support
For the study, data was taken from two large samples, including over 22,000 people.
The results showed that people who remembered more affection from their mothers experienced less depression in later life, along with fewer physical problems.
Those that remembered more support from their fathers had lower depressive symptoms in adulthood.
Dr Chopik said:
“The most surprising finding was that we thought the effects would fade over time because participants were trying to recall things that happened sometimes over 50 years ago.
One might expect childhood memories to matter less and less over time, but these memories still predicted better physical and mental health when people were in middle age and older adulthood.”
A loving relationship with your mother was especially important, said Dr Chopik:
“These results may reflect the broader cultural circumstances of the time when the participants were raised because mothers were most likely the primary caregivers.
With shifting cultural norms about the role of fathers in caregiving, it is possible that results from future studies of people born in more recent years will focus more on relationships with their fathers.”
Related
The study was published in the journal Health Psychology (Chopik & Edelstein, 2018).
