Babies given more love and affection by their mothers deal better with stress and anxiety when they grow up, research has shown.
The study looked at eight-month-old children - meaning even the very earliest life experiences which we do not remember in adulthood can influence our well-being.
Lots of maternal love makes children form a secure bond with their mothers, meaning they are able to feel secure in relationships when grown up, will have better social skills and cope better with life's difficulties, the study found.
Despite growing interest in how early life affects us in adulthood, most previous studies have relied on people's recollections - whereas this research tracked participants from early childhood to adult life.
The researchers, led by Dr Joanna Maselko of Duke University in North Carolina, rated the relationships of 482 eight-month-old babies with their mothers during routine developmental assessment.
They looked at how well the mother had coped with her child's developmental tests and how she had responded to the child's performance.
The amount of affection and attention she gave to her child was categorised into groups ranging from 'negative' to ' extravagant'.
Mental health was then assessed when the babies had grown up - at the average age of 34.
Adults whose mothers had been the most affectionate during their assessment as babies had the lowest levels of anxiety, hostility and general distress.
