Rock on: Heavy metal music fans more likely to be happier as adults

For decades, heavy metal music has been blamed by parents, politicians and religious groups for promoting moral and spiritual darkness in fans, but a new study suggests thre's nothing to be worried about. In fact, they're a pretty cheery bunch.

The study, led by psychologist Tasha Howe from Humboldt State University, found that '80s "metalheads" were "significantly happier in their youth and better adjusted currently" than their peers and a group of current college students.

Howe writes that "the metalhead identity served as a protective factor against negatives outcomes" according to the study published in the journal Self and Identity. The article, titled "Three Decades Later: The Life Experiences and Mid-Life functioning of 1980s Heavy Metal Groupies, Musicians and Fans," assessed over 377 adults: 154 who had been metal enthusiasts in the '80s, 80 of their peers who listened to other genres of music and 153 students at a California university. The participants answered various questions about their youth, current success and happiness, and the results were somewhat shocking.

The study found that regardless of the challenges and other risky behaviours associated with metalheads engaging in the "sex, drugs and rock-and-roll" lifestyle, metal enthusiasts reported higher levels of youthful happiness than other participants and they were less likely to have any regrets about things they had done in their youth.Ironically, non-metal fans from the same period "sought psychological counselling for emotional problems [more] than any other age group, indicating a less happy and fulfilling perspective on their 1980s adolescence."

As it turns out, it's not so much the music as the support and tight-knit subculture that heavy metal offers. "Social support is a crucial protective factor for troubled youth" the researchers wrote. "Fans and musicians alike felt a kinship in the metal community, and in a way to experience heightened emotions with like-minded people."

Surprisingly, between the categories assessed, the study found no significant differences between life experiences of the participants, or how they currently function as adults. Metalheads, however, were more likely to come from broken homes and participate in rebellious acts as opposed to their less risk-taking counterparts, and one third of metalheads had attempted suicide in their youth.

The study does add one caveat: the participants involved were "relatively high functioning individuals who volunteered to participate and report on their lives," generally those who fell through the cracks and led a more destructive lifestyle were less likely to participate in the survey.