Youth Happiness Can Deter Crime, Drug Use

Are your children generally happy? If so, that could be an indication that they will be less likely to get involved in juvenile crime or illegal drug use. Research has found that adolescents who report being happy most of the time, compared to being sad or depressed, are significantly less likely to commit juvenile crimes.

Scientists at the University of California at Davis, studied almost 15,000 students from the seventh to the ninth grade who were part of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health in 1995 and 1996.

Nearly One-Third Committed Crimes

Overall, the UC Davis researchers found that 29 percent of those students reported that they had committed at least one criminal offense in their lifetimes and 18 percent said that had used illegal drugs at least once.

Compared to students who reported that they were happy most of the time, students who had minor, nonclinical depression were significantly more likely to be among the group that had committed crimes and engaged in drug use.

Benefits of Happiness

The researchers believe that some of the benefits of happiness contributes toward the decision-making process that keeps juveniles from getting involved in criminal or violent activity. Those benefits include:

• Forming strong bonds with others
  
• A positive self image
  
• Developing socially valued cognitive and behavior skills.

"We hypothesize that the benefits of happiness — from strong bonds with others, a positive self-image and the development of socially valued cognitive and behavioral skills — reinforce a decision-making approach that is informed by positive emotions," the researchers wrote.

Changes in Emotions Matter

Sociology professor Bill McCarthy and researcher Teresa Casey also found that changes in emotions over time makes a difference in juvenile decision making.

Adolescents who reported a decrease in their happiness level or reported an increase in their level of depression over a one-year period had greater chances of becoming involved in crime and using drugs.

Teens who generally express positive emotions were less likely to commit crimes, but students who often expressed negative emotions - such as anger or rage - were more likely to become offenders.

Both Happy and Depressed

The scientists reported that most adolescents in the middle school years experience periods of happiness and depression. It is the relative intensity of those emotions that makes a difference. Teens who report that they are more often happy and depressed were less likely to use drugs.

But for those who said they were more often depressed than happy, the rates of drug use was substantially higher.

The authors concluded that programs and policies which increase childhood and adolescent happiness can have a noticeable effect on deterring nonviolent crime and drug use.

^{Source: McCarthy, Bill and Casey, Teresa "Get Happy! Positive Emotion, Depression and Juvenile Crime," was presented at the American Sociological Association Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, 22 Aug. 2011.}