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Children who feel more connected to their families are more likely to flourish, according to a large international study.

It is well known that children with stable, nurturing families are聽less likely to experience depression or anxiety, become violent or misuse drugs. But little research has looked at potential positive effects.

at Columbia University in New York and his colleagues analysed data from a聽survey of over 37,000 children aged 11 to 13 living in 26 countries that asked about their well-being and family relationships, structure and financial situation.

To assess family connections, the children were asked to rate, on聽a聽five-point scale, how much they聽agreed with statements like,聽鈥淭here are people in my family who care about me鈥�, 鈥淚 feel safe at home鈥� and 鈥淢y parent(s) listen to me and take what I say into account鈥�.

Their level of flourishing聽 was measured by looking at the extent to which the children agreed, on a聽scale of 0 to 10, with statements such as 鈥淚 like being the way I am鈥�, 鈥淚 feel that I am learning a lot at the moment鈥�, 鈥淚 feel positive about my future鈥� and 鈥淧eople are generally friendly towards me鈥�.

The researchers used the responses to give each child a 鈥渇amily bond strength鈥� score and聽a聽鈥渇lourishing鈥� score. They found that the two scores were correlated, even after adjusting the聽results to account for family wealth and structure.

Children with the strongest family bonds were 49 per cent more likely to flourish than those with the weakest.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 an important finding because it shows that providing a caring, nurturing family environment isn鈥檛 just about switching off the negative things, it鈥檚 also about building kids鈥� capabilities,鈥� says at the University of Queensland in Australia.

Children with good family relationships are probably more likely to flourish because they have 鈥渁n internal sense of safety鈥�, says Whitaker. This sense of safety聽is what allows children to聽鈥渦nderstand who they are and聽accept who they are鈥�, and to聽鈥済row聽and learn, have positive relationships and develop a sense of mastery and purpose鈥�, he says.

Not having to worry about home life also means children can聽devote more mental energy to聽learning, socialising and 鈥渟preading their wings鈥�, says聽Sanders.

To foster healthy family relationships, Whitaker says the聽best thing that parents and other caregivers can do is to spend聽quality time with children. This can involve simple activities like eating meals, going for walks聽or doing chores together, he聽says. 鈥淏eing present, open, interested and attentive at these times is the foundation of family connection,鈥� he says.

It is also important for caregivers to look after themselves, because 鈥渋f you鈥檙e miserable or stressed, it鈥檚 much harder to be attuned to your kids鈥�,聽says Sanders.