 Take a moment and think back to when you were a child. What were you like? Did you make a lot of friends because you were outgoing and kind? Or were you really interested in learning new things? Now compare that to who you are now. Are you still quite similar to how you were or have you changed a lot? There's never just one thing that causes you to become the person you are. There are combinations of different factors acting together to influence you to become the person that you are today. So if you're wondering what happened to the shy or outgoing kid you used to be, let's take a look at how your upbringing shapes your personality. Aces. The things you go through as a child can play a big part in who you become when you're older. Aces are adverse childhood experiences and it refers to any traumatic event you went through when you were a child. This can mean being in an environment that was violent, unsafe and unstable, such as experiencing or witnessing physical or emotional abuse or neglect. These traumatic experiences can have a lasting impact on your health. According to the CDC Kaiser ACE study, the more aces you experience, the more you're at risk for negative health outcomes. These include chronic health diseases such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes, health risk behaviors such as alcoholism and smoking, as well as mental health issues such as depression. One study by Grunznik and others from 2019 even found that it led to higher levels of neuroticism, which has been associated with mood disorders and generally poorer health. Traumatic events in childhood can affect your health in the long term and influence the person you become. Becoming depressed or turning to smoking or alcohol to cope with what happened may be a habit that sticks with you through adulthood. So if this is something that you're struggling with, remember that with help and support you can overcome the challenges that you've faced in childhood and alleviate the risks and effects that it has on you. Namely structure. Another factor in your upbringing that may have influenced the person you've become is the family structure you grew up with. Certain types of households are more at risk and vulnerable to life shocks and unexpected challenges. According to Gingerbread and Step Change, a UK debt charity, single-parent households are more likely to face debt problems due to not having enough income. Financial challenges from divorce and economic abuse by a partner. These struggles not only lead to physical and mental exhaustion for many parents, but also mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. This in turn affects the stability and support they provide for the children involved. As a kid, you don't understand why your parents are always away for work, why there's not always food on the table or why they might lash out when frustrated. These uncertainties at home can affect your physical and mental health. A study looking at the effects of family structure on children's mental health even found that those from single and divorced families are more likely to receive an ADHD diagnosis. What's more, it can also lead to behavioral issues when you turn to harmful activities or make reckless decisions as a way to cope. According to a study in the journal Education Next, children living in a single-parent household are less likely to finish school. Of course, not all single-parent households are unstable, but they are more vulnerable to sudden changes and disruptions. So if you grew up in an unstable household where you rarely had the support you needed, it may have had a lasting effect on your emotional and mental well-being. When talking about our childhood, we must mention the importance of the people who took care of us. After all, much of our personality comes from the people we grew up around. This is often due to a combination of genetics and the social learning theory, which explains how behavior is learned through observation and imitation. First studied by Alfred Bandura in his Bobo doll experiment, he showed how children often copy the behavior of the adults around them when they saw an adult punch and kick the toy model. They displayed the same aggressive behavior toward the toy when left alone with it. What they learned is that children will look to the adults around them to learn how to act and behave in uncertain situations. These behaviors, if continually rewarded, become reinforced and turn into a habit. In this way, if you grew up seeing your parents lash out, be aggressive or even violent towards others, it's likely you'll develop the same behaviors as them and treat others as such. Of course, the opposite is also true where parents who emphasize kindness and patience will often have children who will mirror the same behaviors. So have a think about the people you were surrounded by. How did they act? The theory of mind. As a child, your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs lie at the center of everything. Only when you start to interact with other people will you realize that they have their own thoughts and beliefs that are different from your own. This is essentially the theory of mind. This social cognitive skill refers to the ability to figure out what others might think, feel, and believe and distinguish it from your own. While you may not be aware of it, this skill is essential to our social interactions and conversations. It usually develops in early childhood and improves with age as you gain more social experience. Without a strong theory of mind, you may find yourself always frustrated that others don't see things as you do or have issues with understanding what other people think and want. This is one reason playmates and friends are so important to your social development during childhood. It's the first time you get to interact with people similar to you and learn how to communicate, empathize, and see things from another's point of view. This skill is what allows you to tell when your friend is upset, even when they haven't said a word or know what they want despite what they've said. How different would you say you've become? Have any of these factors influenced the person you are? Let us know in the comments below. Be sure to like, subscribe, and share this video with those who might benefit from it. And don't forget to hit the notification bell icon to get notified whenever Psych2Go posts a new video. The references and studies used in this video are added in the description below. Thanks for watching and see you in the next one.