A gradient of childhood self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America - Tập 108 Số 7 - Trang 2693-2698 - 2011
Terrie E. Moffitt1,2, Louise Arseneault2, Daniel W. Belsky1, Nigel Dickson3,4, Robert J. Hancox3,4, HonaLee Harrington1, Renate Houts1, Richie Poulton3,4, Brent W. Roberts5, Stephen A. Ross1, Malcolm R. Sears6,7, W. Murray Thomson8, Avshalom Caspi1,2
1Departments of Psychology and Neuroscience and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, Duke University, Durham, NC 27705;
2Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, United Kingdom;
3Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, School of Medicine, and
4University of Otago
5Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820;
6Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S4L8 Canada; and
7Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health, Hamilton, ON, Canada L8N 4A6
8Department of Oral Sciences and Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

Tóm tắt

Policy-makers are considering large-scale programs aimed at self-control to improve citizens’ health and wealth and reduce crime. Experimental and economic studies suggest such programs could reap benefits. Yet, is self-control important for the health, wealth, and public safety of the population? Following a cohort of 1,000 children from birth to the age of 32 y, we show that childhood self-control predicts physical health, substance dependence, personal finances, and criminal offending outcomes, following a gradient of self-control. Effects of children's self-control could be disentangled from their intelligence and social class as well as from mistakes they made as adolescents. In another cohort of 500 sibling-pairs, the sibling with lower self-control had poorer outcomes, despite shared family background. Interventions addressing self-control might reduce a panoply of societal costs, save taxpayers money, and promote prosperity.

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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Tập 108 Số 7

2693-2698

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