Forever kissing and cuddling your kids? Good.
By being affectionate with your children, you are literally investing in their happiness and overall health for life, a study confirms.
Researchers from Michigan State University recently analysed data from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States, and the Health and Retirement Study, and what they found was that children growing up with loving mothers are both happier and healthier in later life.
Combined, these studies included more than 22,000 people, and the research was published recently in the journal Health Psychology.
The first study followed adults in their mid-40s for 18 years, while the second followed those aged 50 or over for six years.
And what the researchers discovered, was that the adults who recall their mums as being highly affectionate were far more likely to be disease-free and less at risk of depression.
To investigate the importance of a parent’s affection, the participants were asked how much their parents understood their problems as children, as well as how much affection they gave and how much they tried to teach them about the world.
Study participants were also asked if they had been diagnosed with up to 27 conditions, including thyroid disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.
Depressive symptoms were assessed by asking if they had experienced any of the following in the past two weeks – loss of interest in things, low energy, poor appetite, insomnia, reduced concentration, sadness and thoughts about death.