Does multiple house moves throughout a child’s life affect their mental health/emotional development?

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Just read a newspaper article about a child committing suicide and one of the things mentioned was that in the child’s 12 years of life, they had moved house 11 times.
Is this significant?
Does it affect a child?

I lived in 10 different homes growing up. I don’t think it was the only cause of a troubled youth but the ramifications (no chance to build long lasting friendships, school changes) certainly contributed to issues I’m still dealing with today.

I can I only speak from a small group of people who had this happen to them
DH was moved a lot growing up. This meant a change of schools every couple of years. It has resulted in him having great personal skills when it comes to meeting new people. However he freely admits he hated it and his school work suffered as his priority was always making new friends quickly, and he did this by being a class clown and he didn’t prioritise school work.
It also meant that as soon as he was old enough he rooted himself and is now fiercely loyal to his friends from that time (from approx age 17) even though he may have outgrown them and his loyalty isn’t always reciprocated which he struggles with. His parents still move house all the time and can’t settle and DH is determined for DD to see her schooling through at the same school (as long as she is happy and it’s and good school etc)

Also had a colleague at work. Getting married and couldn’t think of anyone to be a best man as he had been moved so much as a child (Forces father) he has learned as a quite small child not to bother making friends as he found it too painful to leave them all the time 🙁

My mum moved a lot and finds it hard to make and keep friends.

A lot depends on how adaptable a child is. And that's fairly hardwired. A child who finds change difficult would really struggle.

I moved every few years and loved it. But 11 times in 12 years might be about parents struggling to pay the rent, hold down jobs, etc, so a chaotic life, not a well paid job that facilitates the move like my parents had.

I think moving areas and schools must be difficult but hi moving house I'd doubt it. I used to love moving house!

I moved a lot as a child. I have no childhood friends and no ‘family home’. It’s made me fiercely determined that my son will grow up in one place.

Single mum raised my brother and I. We moved fourteen times before I left school for university. I'm still friends with many of my childhood mates, have a successful career, own house and have a masters degree. I think it comes down to the individual child really.

Friends of mine work for an embassy, they've moved every 2-3 years. There kids are now 21 and 19. The older one, a girl would be right in the middle of everything within weeks of them arriving, school councils, lots of clubs and friends, an A* student. The son always 'lost a term' taking longer to settle, make friends and get his grades back. They always said the lifestyle had been perfect for the daughter, but the son would have fared much better if they'd stayed in one place. I could never really reconcile how they'd made the decision to keep with that lifestyle, always moving when their son was so obviously struggling. Not surprisingly the son has chosen to go to Uni near to extended family and has every plan to stay there.

I moved house and school a lot. I don’t have childhood friends and I don’t get attached to houses. You live in it then you move no big deal. Repeat every 2-5 years. I don’t like to change furniture because to me that’s what makes a house my home

I moved a lot and liked it. Actually hate being in one place for too long, as I start to feel antsy. I think in some ways it made be stronger. I'm quite fine to do things on my own, I drop toxic friendships and relationships easily.

Moving house is a massive upheaval in a child’s life. Friendships are so important to development at that age.
I moved a lot (including overseas) and I feel that whilst it was difficult at times, the reasons behind why my parents moved me were more damaging to my development. My parents were chronically unhappy and conflicted and searching something you cannot find in a house move.
Since being old enough to choose where I could live I have stayed in this city longer than anywhere else.

Found making friends easy. Friends were more like family as an adult. Meaningful relationships closer then family until I had my own.

No childhood friends with shared child memories

Very much depends on the child.
I moved a lot (forces brat) and loved it, carried it on in adulthood. Then children came along and for a few years I kept moving. So my first child had 3 addresses in 5 years. I noticed that the child didn't like change so I found a house and stayed put. The second child would have loved us to move every few years.

I know someone who grew up.in a forces family. Constant moves throughout childhood. Although she went to boarding school there was never one 'home' to return to. She then married someone in the forces, so more of the same. Even when he left the forces and got a civilian job they have continued to move, around every two years. So I would say yes, it has definitely affected her. She never feels settled and has suffered from depression for most of her adult life.

It affected me badly, and I still feel rootless, although that's partly because I have no family left. I eventually stopped bothering to make friends and I lost a lot of time in school with trying to settle in, get used to different school systems, get to know people. I was quite depressed and I know my school work and exams suffered. There were things going on at home that caused a lot of other problems and I had no one I knew around me when things were bad.

I moved a lot. Agree with PPs that I have no roots, nowhere feels like home and it is only recently that I feel I have any established friends. I don’t naturally feel like I have much in the way of social support and struggle to go out and make new friends because I think my brain assumes I will move on. I know lots of people superficially but often can’t be arsed to deepen the relationship (I have a limited number of VERY close friends now)

On the other hand I have moved myself multiple times all around the world, am incredibly independent and travelling doesn’t bother me at all... I can move house in a couple of car loads and don’t feel attached to a house or get stressed about moving on.
I do think it has impacted my romantic life (or lack of it) due to attachment issues

I didn't move enough as a child (one move at 6) and when I turned 21 and finished school off I went!

Funnily enough my depression cleared once I started travelling and living in different places.

I'm back home now 20 years later but already thinking about next move which will probably be in 3 years but interstate as opposed to overseas.

Forces child here, I had 12 schools under my belt by the time I was 8 and was then sent to boarding school for some stability. I make friends very quickly and easily but I find it hard to make close friendships and I seem to have an internal clock at the 2 year point which finds me getting quickly irritated by people. I suspect it’s my mind preparing me to lose them even though it’s been about 20 years since that was the case!

I do think it’s shaped who I am in a couple of ways; I find it very hard to get close people but on the plus side I’m a bit of a chameleon and feel comfortable with new people and places very quickly so it’s not all bad.

I've lived in at least 40 different houses and I'm 44. Army brat and currently a renter so not really much choice.
I've got lots of friends all over the place but am finding it difficult to make friends where I am at the moment for some reason. Been here almost 4 years with a break of a year nearly 2 years ago and it's the friendliest area of the country seemingly but its not happening.
DC have lived in 10 different houses but have only been to two different schools so not as bad as it sounds. We've told them we'll be here until they finish school (7 more years) but it won't be in the same house.

I lived in five different houses with my parents before I left for uni BUT they were all in the same area so I didn't need to change school. It didn't bother me at all.

I lived in nearly 20 different houses by the time I was 16 and have no friends as a result. I hated my childhood much of the time,

I moved a lot as a child. In my final year of primary school I attended three different schools.
I feel it has really affected my life negatively.
Despite having to make new friends every few months as a child, I find it incredibly hard to strike up friendships as an adult. I’m really quite lonely.
I’m greatly relieved and thankful that my children have progressed through both primary and secondary education with the opportunity to make friends for life.

I moved around a lot in the primary school years, but in international schools abroad. The transient nature of everyone there made it easy enough to make friends and I was fairly confident. The final move was to England and state education on
In high school and a small village. I found the more reserved nature of the English and the established friendship groups tough to tackle. I was never really a part of the village community as I never went to the primary school. It turned me from a confident, outgoing child to a very shy teenager. I am a bit of a nester now. I have worked hard to put my children into a lovely village primary school. I want them to grow up as part of the community. I want them to feel grounded.

Maybe.

It's a factor in why Forces children (irrespective of income) receive Pupil Premium. (the other being the constant interference to education).

You become brilliant at names and faces, and being easy to be with (surviving as the perennial new girl) but may well lack deep friendships.