Babies given more love and affection by their mothers deal better with stress and anxiety when they grow up, research has shown.
The study looked at eight-month-old children - meaning even the very earliest life experiences which we do not remember in adulthood can influence our well-being.
Lots of maternal love makes children form a secure bond with their mothers, meaning they are able to feel secure in relationships when grown up, will have better social skills and cope better with life's difficulties, the study found.
Despite growing interest in how early life affects us in adulthood, most previous studies have relied on people's recollections - whereas this research tracked participants from early childhood to adult life.
The researchers, led by Dr Joanna Maselko of Duke University in North Carolina, rated the relationships of 482 eight-month-old babies with their mothers during routine developmental assessment.
They looked at how well the mother had coped with her child's developmental tests and how she had responded to the child's performance.
The amount of affection and attention she gave to her child was categorised into groups ranging from 'negative' to ' extravagant'.
Mental health was then assessed when the babies had grown up - at the average age of 34.
Adults whose mothers had been the most affectionate during their assessment as babies had the lowest levels of anxiety, hostility and general distress.
一项研究显示，婴儿时期得到更多母爱的孩子长大后能更好地应对压力和焦虑情绪。
这项研究以八个月大的孩子为对象，结果表明人最初的人生经历会影响到成年后的幸福，尽管我们长大后并不记得这些事情。
研究发现，给予孩子足够多的母爱会在孩子和母亲之间形成牢固的纽带关系，这意味着孩子长大后在情感方面会更有安全感，社交能力更强，并且能够更好地处理生活中的难题。
尽管有关幼年生活对成年后的影响的研究越来越多，但之前的大多数研究主要是依靠人们的回忆，而这一研究则对婴儿时期到成年的成长过程进行了追踪。
美国北卡罗来纳州杜克大学的乔安娜•马赛尔可博士带领的研究小组通过日常的成长评价对482个八个月大的孩子和母亲的关系进行了评估。
他们观察母亲如何应对孩子的成长测试，以及对孩子在测试中的表现作何反应。
母亲给予孩子的关爱和关注程度被分为从“消极”到“溺爱”几个等级。
等这些小孩长大后，平均年龄达到34岁时，研究人员对他们的心理健康进行了评估。
在婴儿时期的评估中得到母亲关爱最多的孩子成年后的焦虑、敌对情绪和整体忧郁水平最低。