Introverted Children Suffer from Frequent Family Moves

Children whose families move frequently to new towns or neighborhoods may continue to suffer negative effects on happiness and life satisfaction as adults, according to a new study reported in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

The study of over 7,000 Americans found that, for both men and women of various ages and levels of education, the more childhood moves a person had made, the lower their satisfaction with their lives and the more likely they were to report negative states of mental health.  The study followed 5,000 of these adults over ten years, measuring their emotional well-being in the mid-1990s and again a decade later.

One factor that does seem to make a difference is a person’s level of introversion or extroversion.  People who are more introverted seem to have suffered more from the childhood moves, while extroverts weathered the frequent change in childhood better.

That’s hardly surprising, since one of the big challenges children face when they move is making new friends.  That task naturally will be harder on introverted children and cause them more stress.   What was not so clear before, however, was that the effects of this stress could last into adulthood.

In addition, there was also a small increase in the death rates for introverts who had experienced frequent childhood moves during the ten years of the study.

It has long been known that children who move frequently do less well in school, and that they suffer a period of adjustment.  This is the first study to focus on the long-term effects of frequent moves on overall life satisfaction.

The study relied on self-reporting, so its findings are somewhat limited.  Parents who are thinking of moving their families, however, might want to consider the need to offer their children additional support and perhaps even seek professional support for shyer kids rather than assuming that the adjustment period will be short.

In addition, since research has shown that introversion has a negative effect on most elements of emotional well-being, parents of introverted children may do well to try to encourage greater social activity as a way to protect against not only the stress of moving, but other stress factors in life.