New Study Finds Only Children Are Thriving, Actually
From mental health to language skills and memory, adult only children are living their best lives.
Anyone who’s ever had one child has heard it. Sometimes it’s years after welcoming your little one, other times it’s within before you’ve even pushed out your placenta. The question “Are you going to have another?” or worse, “When are you going to have another?” or even worse “When are you going to give [child] a sibling?”
At best it’s mildly annoying. At worst it’s profoundly hurtful. And yet no matter how many times we say that, the question remains, as does the belief that only children are somehow doomed to a life of loneliness without a sibling.
But new research shows that the brains of adult only children say otherwise...
A new study, published in the journal Nature Human Behavior looked at 2,397 pairs of individuals, well matched in covariates, to see how siblings or a lack of siblings affects the adult brain. Images were drawn from the CHIMGEN (Chinese Imaging Genetics) cohort, a large neuroimaging study that identifies genetic and environmental factors on the brain. Researchers looked at brain structure, function, connectivity, cognition, personality and mental health among other factors in people with siblings and growing up without siblings.
A team of scientists in China used methods including brain imaging, behavioral assessments and socioeconomic and childhood trauma questionnaires to evaluate a group of 7,186 people ages 18 to 30, including only children and those with siblings.
In addition to brain imaging, researchers conducted behavioral assessments and questionnaires about socioeconomic and childhood trauma. Their results might be surprising, at least to every busybody auntie who insists your very happy only child needs a sibling if they ever want a fulfilled life.
“Contrary to the stereotypical impression of associations between [only children] and problem behaviors, we found positive correlations of GWS with neurocognition and mental health,” the abstract reads.
Indeed, the study not only found better mental health outcomes for only children, but better memory and language ability, and life satisfaction. Only children were also found to be more creative, less reward dependent, and impulsive.
But before the parents of only children let it go to their heads, there are some factors to consider. For one thing, “despite direct effects,” the study reads “[growing up without siblings] affects most brain and behavioural outcomes through modifiable environments, such as socioeconomic status, maternal care and family support, suggesting targets for interventions to enhance children’s healthy growth.”
In other words, there was a higher correlation between a family’s material resources and support systems and children’s long-term mental health than whether they had siblings. It’s almost like there’s no one right way to have a family. Can you even imagine?
