Mental health can be a fraught, personal topic.
As such, I’ll defer to three pieces of research that have informed my conviction that reading fiction is beneficial for the mental wellbeing of children and adults alike.
1. Psychological Medicine, 2024
The first piece of research is an impressive paper under the snappy title, ‘Early-initiated child‐hood reading for pleasure: associations with better cognitive performance, mental well-being and brain structure in young adolescence.’1
This research covers a sample of ten-thousand young people. While not specifying the type of reading, it seeks to investigate how much impact early reading for pleasure (early RfP) had on young adolescents.
Spoiler alert:
These findings, for the first time, revealed the important relationships of early RfP with subsequent brain and cognitive development and mental well-being.
Put simply: when kids read for pleasure it affects how their brain grows (which positively affects lots of other stuff).
The paper is 14 pages long, so here are a few key points (you’re welcome):
Growth: High early RfP scores correlated to moderately larger brains in certain areas associated with cognitive performance and mental health
Defence: Early RfP gives young adolescents lower odds of developing mental health problems, including lower attention symptoms
Nurture: Early RfP is quite likely to be passed on from parents, with the child’s environment having a considerable effect
Habits: Young adolescents use screens less and sleep better if they had high early RfP scores
Interestingly, 12 hours reading per week appears to be the sweet spot to contribute towards development, with numbers beyond that suggestive of an unbalanced lifestyle, i.e. too much sitting on your arse instead of going outside.
But don’t let that put you off:
Early RfP in all children may support the best possible chance for good cognitive development and mental health.
2. Mindlab International, Sussex University, 2009
This paper came under the title, ‘Books beat the Beatles when it comes to reducing stress’.2
The main outcome of the report was just six minutes of reading can reduce stress levels by more than two-thirds. This beat: listening to music, a cup of tea, going for a walk, or computer games (all of which did reduce stress but to a lesser extent).
That sounds great, doesn’t it? While it tells an exciting story, the data should be treated with caution. The sample size was small, all of whom were keen readers with an average age of 34.3 Perhaps if the sample was larger, and made of a broader mix (some people who don’t enjoy reading), we could hold on to the findings a little more firmly.
Either way, I think we can assume reading does relieve stress. But the Beatles might be safe, who knows.
3. Booktrust, 2023
Okay, I cheated: this report, ‘Reading together, changing children’s lives’4, draws evidence from lots of different research papers. It majors on the benefits of parents reading to their children. Here’s the low down:
Children who read are more likely to be happier, healthier and experience better mental wellbeing and self-esteem
They feel more secure and develop deeper bonds with parents and carers
They have better sleep and lead healthier lifestyles
They have a better foundation for healthy social-emotional development
They have better mental wellbeing and self-esteem
Can’t argue with that.
The fact that reading together improves parental mental health5 was one of the most fascinating findings. If you’re a parent who finds it difficult to spend time reading to your child — for whatever reason — maybe that’s motivating.
While there’s evidence that children today experience more anxiety and mental health challenges6, the research above encourages me.
It gives me hope that something as deceptively simple as encouraging a love for reading in children — starting with reading to them when they are young — can contribute to the wellbeing of the next generation.
And for my part, I’m especially grateful especially to my mum and dad who spent many, many hours reading to us from a young age.
‘Early-initiated child‐hood reading for pleasure: associations with better cognitive performance, mental well-being and brain structure in young adolescence’ - Psychological Medicine, 2023
Lewis, D. (2009), Galaxy Stress Research. Mindlab International, Sussex University, UK
https://www.informat.org/researchmethods/researchmethods-7-03.html
‘Reading together, changing children’s lives’ - Booktrust, December 2023
‘Beyond language: Impacts of shared reading on parenting stress and early parent–child relational health’ - Developmental Psychology, 56(7), 1305.
Probably most obviously in Jonathan Haidt’s ‘The Anxious Generation’
Nothing beats a cup of tea