When we talk about childhood and mental health, we often begin with harm. We ask whether a child was neglected, abused, frightened, humiliated, or exposed to instability. These negative early experiences, known as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), include events such as abuse, neglect, household violence, parental mental illness, substance misuse, and parental separation.
The focus on ACEs in psychological research has been extremely important. It has helped clinicians, researchers, teachers, and policymakers recognise that early adversity can shape lifelong physical and mental health. However, it has also left us with a slightly incomplete story. Children are not shaped only by what wounds them. They are also shaped by what protects, comforts, steadies, and delights them.
Positive Childhood Experiences
That is where positive childhood experiences (PCEs) come in. PCEs are experiences that help children feel safe, connected, and valued. They include having at least one caregiver who feels emotionally safe, being able to talk with family members about feelings, feeling supported by friends, experiencing a sense of belonging at school, participating in community traditions, having predictable routines, and knowing that caring adults are genuinely present in their lives.
A growing body of research suggests that these positive experiences matter deeply.
In a 2019 study published in JAMA Pediatrics, Christina Bethell and colleagues found that adults who reported more positive childhood experiences had lower odds of depression and poor mental health, along with higher levels of adult social and emotional support, even after accounting for ACEs. In other words, PCEs are not merely the absence of adversity; they appear to contribute unique developmental benefits of their own.
A young person may live through family conflict while also having a teacher who notices them, a grandparent who provides stability, or a group of friends where they genuinely feel they belong. The presence of adversity does not erase the presence of positive experiences, just as the presence of positive experiences does not mean adversity caused no harm.
Promotive, Not Always Protective
Recent systematic reviews have helped clarify the growing evidence surrounding PCEs.
Across studies involving adults, Han and colleagues (2023) found that positive childhood experiences are consistently associated with better mental health, stronger psychosocial functioning, and lower levels of stress.
A 2025 systematic review by Sousa and colleagues extends these findings to children and adolescents. Their review suggests that PCEs are associated with lower levels of depression, anxiety, self-harm, substance use, and suicidal ideation, as well as better psychosocial adjustment and academic outcomes.
Importantly, the strongest evidence supports what researchers describe as a promotive effect. In other words, positive childhood experiences tend to predict better developmental outcomes regardless of whether adversity occurred.
Positive experiences can strengthen resilience, but they are not magic erasers. They do not make abuse, neglect, poverty, discrimination, or trauma harmless. What they may do is help build psychological capacities that make recovery, connection, and growth more possible, including emotion regulation, trust, self-worth, social confidence, and the belief that the world contains reliable sources of safety.
Some Children May Be More Environmentally Sensitive
An especially interesting development in this literature is the increasing focus on individual differences.
A 2025 study by Neus Barrantes-Vidal and colleagues, examining psychosis-related traits, explored the concept of differential susceptibility. According to this model, some individuals are more sensitive to environmental influences in both positive and negative directions. They may be more vulnerable to adversity, yet also more likely to benefit from supportive environments.
In their study, young adults with higher genetic sensitivity to environmental influences experienced poorer outcomes when they reported fewer positive childhood experiences or lower paternal care. Conversely, they showed better outcomes when they had experienced more supportive childhood environments.
These findings suggest that positive environments, peer support, paternal care, and a strong sense of social belonging may play an important role in both prevention and psychological recovery.
Why Measurement Needs to Improve
One important challenge in this field concerns measurement.
Much of the existing evidence relies on adults retrospectively recalling their childhood experiences. A 2025 narrative review by Rovnaghi and colleagues argues that researchers need more reliable ways to assess positive childhood experiences prospectively, particularly during early childhood, including among preschool-aged and preverbal children.
This matters because some of the most meaningful positive experiences occur long before children have the language to describe them. Being soothed after crying, being held, experiencing predictable routines, receiving warm eye contact, sleeping safely, playing freely, and learning that distress will be met with care are all experiences that may shape development in profound ways.
A More Complicated View of Childhood
The ACEs framework taught us that early adversity matters. The emerging PCEs framework teaches us something equally important: early positive experiences matter too.
Rather than asking only what harms children, this perspective encourages us to ask another question: What positive experiences are we intentionally creating around them?
A child does not need a perfect childhood to develop in healthy ways. However, children do need repeated experiences of safety, connection, and belonging.
An ordinary moment—a comforting conversation, a predictable bedtime routine, a caring teacher, or simply being welcomed with warmth—can communicate a powerful message:
You are safe. You matter. Someone is glad you are here.
References
Bethell, C., Jones, J., Gombojav, N., Linkenbach, J., & Sege, R. (2019). Positive childhood experiences and adult mental and relational health in a statewide sample: Associations across adverse childhood experiences levels. JAMA Pediatrics, 173(11), e193007.
Cunha, O., Sousa, M., Almeida, T. C., Guarda, R., & Cruz, A. R. (2025). When good experiences matter: Positive childhood experiences as a moderator between adverse childhood experiences and psychopathic traits in community and justice-involved samples. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 34(9), 1447–1467.
Han, D., Dieujuste, N., Doom, J. R., & Narayan, A. J. (2023). A systematic review of positive childhood experiences and adult outcomes: Promotive and protective processes for resilience in the context of childhood adversity. Child Abuse & Neglect, 144, 106346.
Sousa, M., Machado, A. B., Pinheiro, M., Pereira, B., Caridade, S., Almeida, T. C., et al. (2025). The impact of positive childhood experiences: A systematic review focused on children and adolescents. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 15248380251320978.
Rovnaghi, C. R., Castilla-Liu, D., Lee, A. M., Shrivastava, A., & Anand, K. J. (2025). Promoting child wellness: A narrative review of positive childhood experiences. Behavioral Sciences, 15(11), 1432.