Psychology

Dr. Lauren Cook, psychologist, on happiest time in people’s lives: “The memories of early adolescence were not so great”

Researchers in Germany have carried out a study that offers insight into how positively we remember different periods of our lives.

Oliver Rossi

AS USA

Update: Jan 28th, 2026 05:15 EST

In early adulthood, we tend to form our happiest memories. That’s the verdict of a team of psychologists in Germany, who found a “‘golden 20s’ effect” during a study on how humans remember different periods of their lives.

“Remembered positivity”

In a survey whose results were published in the scientific journal Memory & Cognition, nearly 200 participants were asked to provide researchers with “brief entire life narratives”. Each individual was interviewed on multiple occasions over a 16-year period.

Among the study’s 172 subjects - who were aged up to 81 - researchers identified what is described in their 2023 paper as a “remembered positivity of young adulthood”.

And, notably, this ‘golden 20s’ trend contrasted with participants’ memories of their teenage-onset years, which elicited less positive recollections.

“Early adolescence dip”

“The memories of early adolescence were not so great for most people,” concludes Dr. Lauren Cook, a psychologist who is not among the study’s authors.

@dr.laurencook
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“Turmoil of puberty”

This “early adolescence dip”, as it is termed in Memory & Cognition, “reaches a nadir point sometime between remembered ages 12 and 16”, explain the study’s authors, led by Theresa Martin of Goethe University Frankfurt.

“We suggest the turmoil of puberty as a reason for the early adolescence dip‚” they add. The researchers also acknowledged, however, that unhappy memories of this period became less pronounced in older adulthood.

Take a look at the Memory & Cognition paper in full.