Health
Mental health may be worse in teens from large families, study suggests: 'Fewer resources'
When it comes to family, many might assume “the more, the merrier” — but for some, that might not be the case, according to a recent study.
Researchers from The Ohio State University found that teens with a greater number of siblings reported poorer mental health than those who came from smaller families.
“The association between the number of siblings and mental health was negative in two large datasets in different countries (U.S. and China),” Doug Downey, lead author of the study and professor of sociology at The Ohio State University, told Fox News Digital.
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The large-scale study, published last month in the Journal of Family Issues, included more than 9,400 eighth graders in China and more than 9,100 children of the same age in the U.S.
The participants in both countries answered various questions about their mental health.
Researchers from The Ohio State University found that teens with a greater number of siblings reported poorer mental health than those with smaller families. (iStock)
Based on the responses, among the Chinese teens, the ones with no siblings were found to have the best mental health.
In the U.S., teens with no siblings or just one sibling had the best mental health.
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The age differences between siblings also appeared to be a factor, the study found.
Those who had older siblings and siblings who were born within a year of one another were shown to have the worst mental well-being.
One theory about the study’s findings is what Downey calls the “resource dilution” explanation.
“But when you add more siblings, each child gets fewer resources and [less] attention from the parents, and that may have an impact on their mental health,” said one of the study researchers. (iStock)
“If you think of parental resources like a pie, one child means they get all the pie — all the attention and resources of the parents,” he said in an OSU press release.
“But when you add more siblings, each child gets fewer resources and [less] attention from the parents, and that may have an impact on their mental health.”
“If you think of parental resources like a pie, one child means they get all the pie – all the attention and resources of the parents.”
The researchers were surprised by the findings, given that previous research had shown hints of positive outcomes related to siblings, such as better social skills and lower probability of divorce, noted Downey.
‘Cannot be sure it is causal’
The study did have some limitations, the researchers acknowledged.
“We found an association between [the] number of siblings and poorer mental health — but we cannot be sure that it is causal,” Downey said.
The researchers also did not analyze the quality of sibling relationships, which could have a direct impact on mental health.
The researchers were surprised by the findings, as previous research had shown hints of positive outcomes related to siblings. However, they noted the study’s limitations. They did not analyze the quality of sibling relationships, for instance. (iStock)
At this point, Downey said, it is too early to recommend any changes in human behavior based on these findings.
“Scholars are only beginning to understand the consequences of fertility change,” he told Fox News Digital.
“As fertility decline continues, understanding the consequences of growing up with fewer siblings becomes increasingly important,” he added. “In this case, the evidence appears to be positive.”
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Kim Arrington, a clinical psychologist at Hackensack Meridian Health in New Jersey, was not involved in the study but offered her input on the findings.
“With this study, we are witnessing the results of the evolution of modern societies away from agrarian societies where having multiple children could be an asset to working farms,” she told Fox News Digital.
“In psychology, ‘resource dilution’ suggests that the availability of parental resources, such as time, attention and finances, decreases as the number of children in a family increases,” a psychologist told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
“Now, with greater specialization in jobs and higher economic demands in our culture resulting in many households requiring two working parents, there are fewer resources in the form of attention from parents to go around, no doubt having an effect on child development.”
In Arrington’s opinion, modern cultures are also less likely to have multi-generational households and communities that, in the past, served as additional sources of childcare, when it was easier for families to pool resources.
“Prior studies showed advantages to having more siblings, so overall the data is mixed.”
Alex Dimitriu, M.D., a psychiatrist and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine in California, also was not part of the OSU research, but he shared his thoughts on the concept of “research dilution.”
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“In psychology, ‘resource dilution’ suggests that the availability of parental resources, such as time, attention and finances, decreases as the number of children in a family increases,” he told Fox News Digital.
“The authors also mention that prior studies showed advantages to having more siblings, so overall the data is mixed,” he added.
Dimitriu said he would expect there to be a “sweet spot” for the number of siblings.
“It appears 0 to 1 may be optimal, per this study — however, I would also expect numerous factors to impact this, including socioeconomic factors, parental divorce and parenting styles.”
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A new study suggests that middle-aged men may be more vulnerable to faster biological aging, potentially linked to exposure to “forever chemicals.”
The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Aging, examined how perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, more commonly known as PFAS, could impact aging at the cellular level.
PFAS are synthetic chemicals commonly used in nonstick cookware, food packaging, water-resistant fabrics and other consumer products, the study noted.
Their chemical structure makes them highly resistant to breaking down, allowing them to accumulate in water, soil and the human body.
Chinese researchers analyzed blood samples from 326 adults enrolled in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2000.
A new study suggests that middle-aged men could face accelerated biological aging at the cellular level due to exposure to PFAS. (iStock)
The researchers measured levels of 11 PFAS compounds in participants’ blood and used DNA-based “epigenetic clocks” — tools that analyze chemical changes to DNA to estimate biological age — to determine how quickly their bodies were aging at the cellular level, the study stated.
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Two compounds, perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluorooctanesulfonamide (PFOSA), were detected in 95% of participants.
Higher concentrations of those chemicals were associated with faster biological aging in men of certain age groups, but not in women.
“People should not panic.”
The compounds most strongly linked to accelerated aging were not the PFAS chemicals that typically receive the most public attention, the researchers noted.
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“The associations were strongest in adults aged 50 to 64, particularly in men,” Dr. Xiangwei Li, professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and the study’s corresponding author, told Fox News Digital.
“While this does not establish that PFAS cause aging, it suggests that these widely present ‘forever chemicals’ may be linked to molecular changes related to long-term health and aging.”
The study found that two of the compounds were detected in 95% of participants, and higher levels were linked to faster biological aging in men ages 50–64. (iStock)
Midlife may represent a more sensitive biological period, when the body becomes more vulnerable to age-related stressors, according to the researchers.
Lifestyle factors, such as smoking, may influence biological aging markers, potentially increasing vulnerability to environmental pollutants.
While Li said “people should not panic,” she does recommend looking for reasonable ways to reduce exposure.
That might mean checking local drinking water reports, using certified water filters designed to reduce PFAS, and limiting the use of stain- or grease-resistant products when alternatives are available.
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Meaningful reductions in PFAS exposure will likely depend on broader regulatory action and environmental cleanup efforts, Li added.
The researchers noted that midlife could be a particularly sensitive stage, when the body is more susceptible to stressors associated with aging. (iStock)
Study limitations
The researchers outlined several important limitations of the research, including that the findings show an association, but do not prove that PFAS directly causes accelerated aging.
“The study is cross-sectional, meaning exposure and aging markers were measured at the same time, so we cannot determine causality,” Li told Fox News Digital.
The study was also relatively small, limited to 326 adults age 50 or older, which means the findings may not apply to younger people or broader populations.
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Researchers measured PFAS levels using data collected between 1999 and 2000, and today’s exposure patterns may differ.
Li added that while PFAS is known to persist in the environment and the body, these results should be validated through larger, more recent studies that follow participants over time.
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A drug that has long been used to treat seizures has shown promise as a potential means of Alzheimer’s prevention, a new study suggests.
The anti-seizure medication, levetiracetam, was first approved by the FDA in November 1999 under the brand name Keppra as a therapy for partial-onset seizures in adults. The approval has since expanded to include children and other types of seizures.
Northwestern University researchers recently found that levetiracetam prevented the formation of toxic amyloid beta peptides, which are small protein fragments in the brain that are commonly seen in Alzheimer’s patients.
The medication was found to prevent the formation of amyloid-beta 42 in both animal models and cultured human neurons, according to the study findings, which were published in Science Translational Medicine.
The effect was also seen in post-mortem human brain tissue obtained from individuals with Down syndrome, who are at high risk for Alzheimer’s disease.
The medication was found to prevent the formation of amyloid-beta 42 in both animal models and cultured human neurons. (iStock)
“While many of the Alzheimer’s drugs currently on the market, such as lecanemab and donanemab, are approved to clear existing amyloid plaques, we’ve identified this mechanism that prevents the production of the amyloid‑beta 42 peptides and amyloid plaques,” said corresponding author Jeffrey Savas, associate professor of behavioral neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in a press release.
“Our new results uncovered new biology while also opening doors for new drug targets.”
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The brain is better able to avoid the pathway that produces toxic amyloid‑beta 42 proteins in younger years, but the aging process gradually weakens that ability, Savas noted.
“This is not a statement of disease; this is just a part of aging. But in brains developing Alzheimer’s, too many neurons go astray, and that’s when you get amyloid-beta 42 production,” he said.
The effect was also seen in post-mortem human brain tissue obtained from individuals with Down syndrome, who are at high risk for Alzheimer’s disease. (iStock)
That then leads to tau (“tangles”) — abnormal clumps of protein inside brain neurons — which can kill brain cells, trigger neuroinflammation and lead to dementia.
In order for levetiracetam to function as an Alzheimer’s blocker, high-risk patients would have to start taking it “very, very early,” Savas said — up to 20 years before elevated amyloid-beta 42 levels would be detected.
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“You couldn’t take this when you already have dementia, because the brain has already undergone a number of irreversible changes and a lot of cell death,” the researcher noted.
The researchers also did a deep dive into previous human clinical data to determine whether Alzheimer’s patients who were taking the anti-seizure drug had slower cognitive decline. They reported that the patients in that category had a “significant delay” in the span from cognitive decline to death compared to those not taking the drug.
“This analysis supports the positive effect of levetiracetam to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s pathology,” the researcher said. (iStock)
“Although the magnitude of change was small (on the scale of a few years), this analysis supports the positive effect of levetiracetam to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s pathology,” Savas said.
Looking ahead, the research team aims to find people who have genetic forms of Alzheimer’s to participate in testing, Savas said.
Limitations and caveats
The study had several limitations, including that it relied on animal models and cultured cells, with no human trials conducted.
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Because the study was observational in nature, it can’t prove that the medication caused the prevention of the toxic brain proteins, the researchers acknowledged.
Savas noted that levetiracetam “is not perfect,” cautioning that it breaks down in the body very quickly.
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The team is currently working to create a “better version” that would last longer in the body and “better target the mechanism that prevents the production of the plaques.”
“You couldn’t take this when you already have dementia, because the brain has already undergone a number of irreversible changes and a lot of cell death.”
The medication’s common documented side effects include drowsiness, weakness, dizziness, irritability, headache, loss of appetite and nasal congestion.
It has also been linked to potential mood and behavior changes, including anxiety, depression, agitation and aggression, according to the prescribing information. In rare cases, it could lead to severe allergic reactions, skin reactions, blood disorders and suicidal ideation.
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Funding for the study was provided by the National Institutes of Health and the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund.
Fox News Digital reached out to the drug manufacturer and the researchers for comment.
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