The relationship between adult happiness and self-appraised childhood happiness and events.
The primary purpose of the present research was to relate questionnaire-assessed self-reported childhood happiness and events to adulthood happiness in 387 non-clinical participants. Although childhood happiness and adult happiness were found to be significantly correlated (r = .28, p < .001), there was little relationship between reported adult happiness and reported specific childhood events and circumstances. Childhood events and circumstances, however, were much more highly correlated with childhood happiness (R = .64). Thirty-four percent of the persons who said they were unhappy or very unhappy as a child, but only 9% who said they were happy or very happy as a child, reported that they were unhappy or very unhappy as adults.
Freeman
L J
LJ
California School of Professional Psychology, Fresno 93727, USA.
Templer
D I
DI
Hill
C
C
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D005260:Female; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires