Children with better self control enjoy healthier middle age: Study

According to the findings of a new study, children who have a good sense of self-control in them turn out to be much healthier middle-aged adults later in their lives.

A study published in the journal, National Academy of Sciences, has tracked a thousand people from birth through age 45 in New Zealand. Researchers have determined that people who had higher levels of self-control as children were ageing more slowly than their peers at the same age. Their bodies and brains were healthier and biologically younger.

In interviews, the higher self-control group also showed they may be better equipped to handle the health, financial and social challenges of later life as well. The researchers used structured interviews and credit checks to assess financial preparedness. High childhood self-control participants expressed more positive views of ageing and felt more satisfied with life in middle age.

“Our population is growing older, and living longer with age-related diseases,” said Leah Richmond-Rakerd, who is the first author of the study. “It’s important to identify ways to help individuals prepare successfully for later-life challenges, and live more years free of disability. We found that self-control in early life may help set people up for healthy ageing.”

Children with better self-control tended to come from more financially secure families and had a higher IQ (intelligence quotient). But the researchers are quick to point out that childhood is not the only age. Some study participants had shifted their self-control levels as adults and had better health outcomes than their childhood assessments would have predicted.

Self-control also can be taught, and the researchers suggest that a societal investment in such training could improve life span and quality of life, not only in childhood but also perhaps in midlife. There is ample evidence that changing behaviors in midlife (quitting smoking or taking up exercise) leads to improved outcomes.

“Everyone fears an old age that’s sickly, poor, and lonely, so ageing well requires us to get prepared, physically, financially, and socially,” said experts. “We found people who have used self-control since childhood are far more prepared for ageing than their same-age peers.”

The study has tracked these people since they were born in 1972 and 73, putting them through a battery of psychological and health assessments at regular intervals since, the most recent being at age 45.

Childhood self-control was assessed by teachers, parents and the children themselves at ages 3 to 11. The children were measured for impulsive aggression and other forms of impulsivity, over-activity, perseverance and inattention.

From ages 26 to 45, the participants also were measured for physiological signs of ageing in several organ systems, including the brain. In all measures, higher childhood self-control correlated with slower ageing. The people with the highest self-control were found to walk faster and have younger-looking faces at age 45 as well.