来源：《新科学家》
原文见刊日期：2022年6月11日
Children who feel more connected to their families are more likely to flourish, according to a large international study. It is well known that children with stable, nurturing families are less likely to experience depression or anxiety, become violent or misuse drugs. But little research has looked at potential positive effects.
一项大型国际研究表明，与家人联系更紧密的孩子更有可能茁壮成长。众所周知，有稳定的养育家庭的孩子不太可能经历抑郁或焦虑，变得暴力或滥用药物。但很少有研究关注潜在的积极影响。
Robert Whitaker at Columbia University in New York and his colleagues analysed data from a survey of over 37,000 children aged 11 to 13 living in 26 countries that asked about their well-being and family relationships, structure and financial situation.
纽约哥伦比亚大学的罗伯特·惠特克及其同事分析了来自26个国家的37000多名11岁至13岁儿童的调查数据，调查询问了他们的幸福感、家庭关系、家庭结构和家庭财务状况。
To assess family connections, the children were asked to rate, on a five-point scale, how much they agreed with statements like, “There are people in my family who care about me”, “I feel safe at home” and “My parent(s) listen to me and take what I say into account”.
为了评估家庭关系，孩子们被要求以五分制对诸如“我的家人关心我”、“我在家里感到安全”和“我的父母会倾听我并考虑我的话”这样的陈述进行评分。
Their level of flourishing was measured by looking at the extent to which the children agreed, on a scale of 0 to 10, with statements such as “I like being the way I am”, “I feel that I am learning a lot at the moment”, “I feel positive about my future” and “People are generally friendly towards me”.
茁壮成长程度是通过观察孩子们对诸如“我喜欢做自己”、“我觉得我现在学到了很多”、“我对自己的未来感到积极”和“人们普遍对我很友好”等陈述的认同程度来衡量的，得分为0到10分。
The researchers used the responses to give each child a “family bond strength” score and a “flourishing” score. They found that the two scores were correlated, even after adjusting the results to account for family wealth and structure. Children with the strongest family bonds were 49 per cent more likely to flourish than those with the weakest.
研究人员利用这些回答给每个孩子一个“家庭纽带强度”分和一个“茁壮成长”分。他们发现，这两个分数是相关的，即使在考虑家庭财富和家庭结构调整结果后。家庭纽带最紧密的孩子比那些家庭纽带最薄弱的孩子茁壮成长的可能性高出49%。
“I think it’s an important finding because it shows that providing a caring, nurturing family environment isn’t just about switching off the negative things, it’s also about building kids’ capabilities,” says Matthew Sanders at the University of Queensland in Australia.
澳大利亚昆士兰大学的马修·桑德斯说：“我认为这是一项重要的发现，因为它表明，提供一个关爱、培养孩子的家庭环境不仅仅是为了不再担心负面影响，而且也是为了培养孩子的能力。”
Children with good family relationships are probably more likely to flourish because they have “an internal sense of safety”, says Whitaker. This sense of safety is what allows children to “understand who they are and accept who they are”, and to “grow and learn, have positive relationships and develop a sense of mastery and purpose”, he says.
惠特克说，家庭关系良好的孩子可能更容易茁壮成长，因为他们有“内在的安全感”。他说，这种安全感让孩子们“了解自己，接受自己”，并“成长和学习，建立积极的关系，培养掌控感和目标感”。
Not having to worry about home life also means children can devote more mental energy to learning, socialising and “spreading their wings”, says Sanders.
桑德斯说，不必担心家庭生活也意味着孩子们可以把更多的精力投入到学习、社交和“展翅飞翔”上。
To foster healthy family relationships, Whitaker says the best thing that parents and other caregivers can do is to spend quality time with children. This can involve simple activities like eating meals, going for walks or doing housework together, he says. “Being present, open, interested and attentive at these times is the foundation of family connection,” he says.
惠特克说，为了培养健康的家庭关系，父母和其他看护者所能做的最好的事情就是与孩子们共度美好时光。他说，这可能包括吃饭、散步或一起做家务等简单活动。“在这些时候，在场、开放、感兴趣和专注是家庭关系的基础，”他说。
It is also important for caregivers to look after themselves, because “if you’re miserable or stressed, it’s much harder to be attuned to your kids”, says Sanders.
对于看护者来说，照顾好自己也很重要，因为“如果你很痛苦或有压力，你就很难与你的孩子和谐相处，”桑德斯说。