An 18-year study found that children who received extra support with language, emotions and relationships in preschool reported greater life satisfaction and fewer depressive symptoms in their early twenties.
A preschool programme that teaches children how to make friends, manage anger and understand other people’s feelings may have benefits that last well into adulthood, according to research from Pennsylvania State University. The study, which followed hundreds of children for 18 years, found that those who received early instruction in language and social skills reported better mental wellbeing in their early twenties than peers who did not take part.
Penn State said the findings, published in the journal “American Psychologist”, are based on children who took part in the Research Based, Developmentally Informed, or REDI, programme. The initiative added two weekly lessons focused on friendship, social problem-solving, emotional understanding and language development, while teachers were trained to help children handle everyday classroom disputes in constructive ways.
By the ages of 21 and 22, participants who had received the extra support in preschool were more likely to report greater life satisfaction, more optimism and less loneliness. They also showed fewer depressive symptoms, reinforcing the idea that social and emotional learning in the earliest years can shape later wellbeing in ways that reach beyond the classroom.
The broader Penn State research adds to a growing body of evidence that non-academic skills in early childhood can matter for long-term outcomes. Other studies from the university have linked stronger prosocial behaviour in kindergarten to better education and employment prospects later in life, while also suggesting lower risks of behavioural problems and emotional difficulties during adolescence. Taken together, the work points to a wider public-health case for embedding social and emotional learning alongside reading and numeracy in early education.
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