Abstract
In this study, we investigated the association between positive emotion expression in children’s writing at age 11, as indicated by objective raters, and age 50 self-reported well-being outcomes—positive emotions, optimism, life satisfaction, meaning in life, social well-being, and physical health. Using a representative sample (N = 436) from the United Kingdom who participated in the National Child Development Study (NCDS), we found that positive emotion expression at age 11 was related to greater optimism, life satisfaction, meaning in life, and social well-being, but not positive emotions or physical health, at age 50 after controlling for socioeconomic status (SES) in adulthood. The associations between positive emotion expression in childhood and well-being in adulthood remained significant when accounting for age 11 academic ability and SES. By using an observational measure of positive emotion during childhood and accounting for relationships among well-being outcomes in adulthood, our findings offer important insights regarding the long-term correlates of children’s positive emotions.
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Data Availability
The data are deposited at the UK Data Archive by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies at the Institute of Education, University of London, where they are available on request.
Notes
Although sex was associated with age 11 SES and age 50 positive emotions, it was not associated with positive emotion expression. All paths remained significant (ps < .05) without sex in the model and including sex did not significantly improve model fit. Thus, we excluded sex from all subsequent models.
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The research presented in this paper was supported by a Faculty Development grant to John K. Coffey.
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J. K. Coffey, S. K. Nelson-Coffey, and M. Pluess developed the study concept. H. Parsley directed the coding of essay data under the supervision of J. K. Coffey and S. K. Nelson-Coffey. J. K. Coffey performed the data analysis, and J. K. Coffey, S. K. Nelson-Coffey, and M. Pluess interpreted the analyses. H. Parsley conducted the literature review; J. K. Coffey and S. K. Nelson-Coffey drafted the manuscript, and M. Pluess and H. Parsley provided critical revisions. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript for submission.
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The study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki, confirmed by the Institutional Review Board of Sewanee: The University of the South for the analyses presented in the current paper. All participants provided informed assent or consent for each survey.
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The analyses in this work are based on analysis of data from the National Child Development Study (NCDS). The data were deposited at the UK Data Archive by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies at the Institute of Education, University of London. NCDS is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
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Coffey, J.K., Nelson-Coffey, S.K., Parsley, H. et al. Positive emotion expression at age 11 is associated with multiple well-being outcomes 39 years later. Curr Psychol 42, 21954–21966 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03218-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03218-4