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Children who start reading for pleasure at an early age do better on cognitive tests and have better mental health as they enter their teen years, according to the authors of a study published in the journal Psychological Medicine. More than 100,000 teenagers from the United States were included in the study sample.

Researchers found it 12 hours a week is the optimal amount of reading for childrenand it’s linked to better brain structure, which may help explain the results.

Reading for pleasure can be an important and enjoyable childhood activity. Unlike listening comprehension and spoken language, which develop quickly and easily in young children, reading is a skill that is taught and acquired and developed through explicit learning over time.

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Researchers from the university in Cambridge and Warwick (United Kingdom) and the University of Fudan (China) analyzed data from the United States Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) cohort, which recruited more than 10,000 young adolescents.

The team analyzed a variety of data, including clinical interviews, cognitive tests, mental and behavioral assessments, and brain scans, and compared young people who started reading for pleasure at a relatively young age (between the ages of two and nine) with them. who started doing it later or didn’t do it at all. Many important factors, such as socioeconomic status, were controlled for in the analysis.

From 10,243 study participants, less than half (48%) have had little experience of reading for pleasure or did not start reading until childhood. The remaining half have spent between three and ten years reading for pleasure.

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The team found a strong association between reading for pleasure at an early age and positive performance in adolescence on cognitive tests that measure factors such as verbal learning, memory and speech development, and school academic performance.

These children also had better mental well-being, as assessed by a series of clinical scores and parent-teacher reports, and showed fewer signs of stress and depression, as well as better attention spans and fewer behavioral problems, such as aggressiveness. and rules. solving.