I think that [childhood experiences are definitely influential] (https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cdev.12336) upon our adult behaviours, but not in a [deterministic sense] (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/determinism).

• During childhood and formative years, [our brains are highly susceptible to their environments] (https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/child-health-development/childhood-trauma-brain-development). They're wired from birth by [genetics] (https://www.mentalhelp.net/personality-disorders/early-life-experiences-and-development/), but environmental factors largely shape how they develop. [This article] (https://www.verywellmind.com/experience-and-development-2795113) talks about the psychological theories around how environmental influence on behaviour takes place.

• However, I think it's reductive to say that our behaviour in later life is 'determined' by childhood experiences. It hints at a lack of accountability for the way we act. Yes, behavioural patterns can become ingrained as a result of our experiences, but we are also free agents who are capable of self-reflection and change. [It's even been suggested that our personalities are still changeable beyond the age of 50] (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6063370/). Behaviour is not set in stone from childhood.

Childhood experiences are guaranteed to have an effect on later behaviour, as shown in multiple studies and as necessitated by the nature of causality.

There are several empirical examples of childhood experiences informing later decisions and impacting behaviours into adulthood, a few of which are listed below:

• The emotional support one receives as a child, termed 'maternal sensitivity', has been shown to positively affect academic and social competence later in life.
• One's conscientiousness as a child may influence their well-being as an adult, as measured in this study as "health, friendships, and mastery."
• Childhood experiences are predictors of whether or not certain individuals will develop social anxiety in the future. In [this study], babies who were "especially sensitive and distrustful" were more likely to report anxiety in social situations after childhood.
• "Adverse Childhood Experiences" are negatively associated with familial wellbeing in the future, measured in terms of "social and emotional processes" and "family health resources".

Many of these studies, as it appears, do not correlate specific behaviours with specific childhood experiences. They do, however, demonstrate that early experiences are strong predictors of future characteristics that, invariably, impact adult behaviours.

A more general and potentially obvious argument, however, is that the present is invariably contingent on the past in general.

• One might claim that personal autonomy can isolate childhood experiences and, through self-awareness, allow us to make 'our own decisions'.
• Even if we do have control over our behaviours, and even if we change drastically after childhood, however, each of those changes have inevitably been informed by our past.
• In other words, if your behaviour changes today, the circumstances, thought processes, or other factors that motivated the change have all been shaped into existence by the past.
• For example, if I am a highly anxious person today because of certain experiences as a child, I might still be able to change this. However, who I become as a result of that change, and how I choose to make that change, etc., are all influenced by my past. For one, the very fact that I am making a change is a behaviour that is influenced by my anxiousness, which is in turn influenced by my childhood experiences.

Therefore, the question in psychological research today is not whether adult behaviour is determined by childhood experiences, but how and to what extent.

Yes, but it's not the only thing that determines behavior later in life.

It all chalks up to the whole "nature versus nurture" debate. Which one makes an impact on what kind of person we will become -- our individual nature that is determined by our DNA, or the way we're raised / the experiences we have / the environment in which we grow up?

Hint: The answer is both.