[Science Solitaire] How much of the child now will be the adult later?

Maria Isabel Garcia

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Self-control seems to create borders that slowly define you as you grow up, not to restrict you but to make your desires and goals clearer to yourself

How much of our childhood defines our adulthood? Wow, if we knew that, imagine our deliberation and care in what goes to what we teach our children.  Well, at least the part that we can teach.

I have been a part of the ups and downs of family members and friends who have struggled with raising children; but being “child-free,” I am always reminded by these same people that I am either “lucky” or will forever remain an outsider to child-rearing since I wallow (or at least I could) in the luxury of being theoretical about it. 

But never mind “child-free” me; in this column, I am the huntress of evidence and I found one and it is a February 2011 landmark study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the US involving 1,000 children followed from birth until they turned 32 years old.

Psychologists have long been at work trying to identify what childhood trait could predict “success” in adulthood.  “Success” here refers to how one fares in measures of health, wealth and criminality.

Many of us would probably think that since this questions deal with the infinitely problematic subjects called human beings, that question is impossible to answer. But that is what science is so unstoppable at – asking questions and trying to answer them. So what is this secret childhood trait?

It is “self-control.” You are probably saying “Huh? Boring ‘self control’ is the answer? Not ‘passion,’ ‘genius,’ ‘my rich parents,’ ‘my school and grades?’” Yes, not those. 

In the late 60s and 70s , the famous marshmallow test done by Stanford University’s Walter Mischel found that a small number of kids who opted not to eat the marshmallows they were given until much later with the promise of more reward, scored better in their SATs, had better health and other life measures. Since then, many studies have been exploring the subject that in a review by Angela Duckworth in the same journal, about 3% of all psychology articles even just last year, contained the keyword “self-control” or its related words.

“Self-control” can take the form of self-discipline, delaying gratification, being orderly and having a plan of action, a sense of responsibility in the circumstances that children find themselves in. Self-control can be taught but it could not be discounted that genes could also influence the degree of self-control. For example, a few years ago, they found genes that could account for “riskiness.” Having this gene may understandably affect the way a child could conquer his or her own risky tendencies.

So what do we know now?

If you had good self-control as a kid, you will more likely have better health as an adult than kids who had poor self-control. The ones who exercised self control when they were children had better health results than those who had less self control. They know this based on an evaluation of their cardiovascular, respiratory, inflammatory, dental, sexual health when they reached 32 years old. They also looked at their metabolic abnormalities (including being overweight), airflow limitation, periodontal disease, sexually transmitted infection, and C-reactive protein level.

If you had poor self-control as a child, you will likely have more money-related problems as an adult than kids who had better self-control. The researchers found that those who had poor self control as kids were the least likely to save, least likely to make investments for the future such as a house and even retirement plans. They also had more credit-related problems than those who had better self-control as kids. It is important to note that it is poor self-control that affects “wealth” issues in adults since “wealth” per se in adulthood is also largely influenced by IQ and socio-economic status of family origins. This just means that if you were already born intelligent to a wealthy family and you still manage to mess up your adult life, then you can bet that it was probably “self-control” that you lacked or had very little of as a child.

If you had poor self-control as a child, you are more likely to commit a criminal offense as an adult. In the study, 24% of the 1,000 subjects followed for 32 years of their lives ended up with a criminal record. And when the researchers looked at who these were, they found that indeed the ones who were recorded to have poor self-control as kids were the ones who were more likely to be criminals.

Boys and girls both need self-control if they are to become successful adults . This means that self-control should be taught to all children, and that spoiling children by virtue of gender will more likely spoil them for adulthood.

The differences in self-control even among siblings also accounted for the differences in “success” of these kids as adults. This just means that belonging to one family is not a guarantee for the presence of the same level of “self-control” exhibited by children. 

Self-control seems to create borders that slowly define you as you grow up, not to restrict you but to make your desires and goals clearer to yourself. And you know within what window of age when self-control as a “value” seems to have an effect early enough that it will last? The study said it is between 3-5 years old. For myself, I could only remember that I was Daddy’s girl in those years. Those were the times he taught me how to think first before I opened my mouth and asked a question, to not overdress in frills since he said my personality was quite overwhelming enough (yes my own father said that to me at 3) and to never hesitate to say “no, thank you” and move on when I am not comfortable.

A child naturally is awash with so many possibilities and more often we adults in our excitement and fear of being remiss, want to give so much. But careful studies now bear out that maybe withholding reward until it is time may be the best gift you can give to a child. It is a unique gift of time, time that is not always being swiftly consumed and exhausted, but stretching out as a promise. To a child, the promise of a gift turns out to be the most precious, lasting gift of them all. – Rappler.com

 

Maria Isabel Garcia is a science writer. She has written two books, “Science Solitaire” and “Twenty One Grams of Spirit and Seven Ounces of Desire.” Her column appears every Friday and you can reach her at sciencesolitaire@gmail.com.

 

Big shoes image from Shutterstock 

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