They say about him that he is worse than a fire. And if moving is so much trouble for adults, what to talk about children. How does the change of scenery affect the child? And can stress be mitigated?
In the cartoon «Inside Out», an 11-year-old girl is very painfully experiencing the move of her family to a new place. It is no coincidence that the filmmakers chose this plot. A radical change of scenery is a great stress not only for parents, but also for the child. And this stress can be long-term, negatively affecting a person’s mental health in the future.
The younger the child, the easier he will endure a change of residence. This is what we think and we are wrong. American psychologists Rebecca Levin Cowley and Melissa Kull found out1that moving is especially difficult for preschoolers.
“Younger children are less likely to develop social skills, more likely to have emotional and behavioral problems,” says Rebecca Levine. These effects can last for years. Pupils in elementary or middle grades endure the move more easily. The results of the study showed that the negative effects of moving — a decrease in academic performance (especially in mathematics and reading comprehension) in older children are not so pronounced and their impact quickly weakens.
Children are conservative in their habits and preferences
Every parent knows how difficult it is, for example, to get a child to try a new dish. For children, stability and familiarity are important, even in small things. And when the family decides to change their place of residence, it thereby immediately forces the child to give up countless habits and, as it were, try many unfamiliar dishes in one sitting. Without persuasion and preparation.
Another group of psychologists conducted a similar study.2using statistics from Denmark. In this country, all movements of citizens are carefully documented, and this provides a unique opportunity to study the impact of a change of residence on children at different ages. In total, statistics were studied for more than a million Danes born between 1971 and 1997. Of these, 37% had a chance to survive the move (or even several) before the age of 15.
In this case, psychologists were more interested not in school performance, but in juvenile delinquency, suicide, drug addiction, and early mortality (violent and accidental).
It turned out that in the case of Danish teenagers, the risk of such tragic outcomes was especially increased after numerous moves in early adolescence (12-14 years). At the same time, the social status of different families (income, education, employment), which was also taken into account by scientists, did not affect the result of the study. The initial assumption that adverse effects may primarily affect families with a low level of education and income has not been confirmed.
Of course, a change of residence cannot always be avoided. It is important that the child or adolescent receive as much support as possible after the move, both in the family and at school. If necessary, you can also seek psychological help.
Sandra Wheatley, a British specialist in child psychology, explains that when moving, a child experiences serious stress, as the micro-order that he has long known collapses. This in turn leads to increased feelings of insecurity and anxiety.
But what if the move is unavoidable?
Of course, these studies must be kept in mind, but they should not be taken as a fatal inevitability. Much depends on the psychological climate in the family and the circumstances that caused the move. One thing is the divorce of parents, and another thing is a change of work to a more promising one. It is important for a child to see that parents do not get nervous during the move, but take this step confidently and in a good mood.
It is important that a significant part of his former home furnishings move with the child — not only favorite toys, but also furniture, especially his bed. Such components of the former way of life are important enough to maintain internal stability. But the main thing — do not pull the child out of the old environment convulsively, abruptly, nervously and without preparation.
1 R. Coley & M. Kull «Cumulative, Timing-Specific, and Interactive Models of Residential Mobility and Children’s Cognitive and Psychosocial Skills», Child Development, 2016.
2 R. Webb al. «Adverse Outcomes to Early Middle Age Linked With Childhood Residential Mobility», American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2016.