Children today are happier, less anxious and more sociable

Jun 30 2008

According to new research from the Australian Institute of Family Studies, children today are less anxious, more sociable and are happier than children were 20 years ago.

The report says rising rates of obesity, depression and substance abuse has given arise to concern that Australian children today are unhappier than those of twenty years ago.

However an investigation into the results from two landmark longitudinal studies allowed a rare comparison of children born twenty years apart in differing eras, to be made.

Institute director Professor Alan Hayes, says children growing up in the new millennium are doing comparatively better in some areas than those children growing up in the 1980s.

The research examined how 10,000 families with two- to three-year-olds and six- to seven-year-olds reported their child's progress and compared it to an almost identical study conducted of Australian children in the mid-1980s, known as the Australian Temperament Project.

It revealed that toddlers today are more sociable and have fewer difficulties sleeping and six and seven-year-olds are now better behaved.

Children that age were more than twice as likely to hurt others then as now, it found, and while 9per cent of toddlers were reported as destructive 20 years ago, only 5 per cent were deemed so today.

Two to 3 year-olds 20 years ago were less likely to stick at tasks and more frustrated than children of the same age today and 20 years ago 8 per cent of these toddlers had difficulty falling asleep, compared with just 2 per cent today.

The comparison of six- to seven-year-olds found that children 20 years ago were significantly more often perceived to have conduct problems and anxiety than today's study children.

Ms Smart says the six and seven-year-olds surveyed are now much less likely to worry, less likely to lose their temper and are a little more obedient than they were 20 years ago as well.

However according to the paper's lead researcher, Diana Smart, an interesting divide was revealed between what parents think of their children and what teachers think.

While most of today's parents think their children are progressing well, teachers, on the other hand, tended to report more instances of hyperactivity and conduct problems among their charges.

Ms Smart suggests that today's parents are perhaps more tolerant and understanding of, or less affected by challenging child behaviour and therefore less likely to report it as problematic, while today's teachers may be more aware of conduct issues than they were in the past and more willing to report their presence.