Health outcomes of only children across the life course: An investigation using Swedish register data
Health outcomes of only children across the life course: An investigation using Swedish register data
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DOI：
10.1080/00324728.2021.2020886
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发表时间：
2020-01
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
K. Keenan;Kieron J Barclay;A. Goisis
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
K. Keenan;Kieron J Barclay;A. Goisis
在许多高收入环境中，独生子女（没有亲生兄弟姐妹）是一个不断增长的群体。以前的研究主要集中在独生子女的短期发展结果上，但关于他们的健康结果的证据有限。我们使用 1940-75 年间出生的瑞典人口登记数据，将独生子女与多子女兄弟姐妹群体的孩子的健康状况进行比较，同时考虑到出生顺序、家庭规模和同父异母兄弟姐妹的存在。与有一两个兄弟姐妹的孩子相比，独生子女的身高和健康得分较低，在青春期后期更有可能超重/肥胖，并且晚年死亡率更高。然而，没有同父异母兄弟姐妹的独生子女始终比有同父异母兄弟姐妹的独生子女更健康，这表明父母的干扰带来了额外的劣势。通过调整父母特征以及使用家庭内表兄弟比较设计后，健康劣势有所减弱，但并未得到充分解释。
Only children (with no full biological siblings) are a growing subgroup in many high-income settings. Previous studies have largely focused on the short-term developmental outcomes of only children, but there is limited evidence on their health outcomes. Using Swedish population register data for cohorts born 1940–75, we compare the health of only children with that of children from multi-child sibling groups, taking into account birth order, family size, and presence of half-siblings. Only children showed lower height and fitness scores, were more likely to be overweight/obese in late adolescence, and experienced higher later-life mortality than those with one or two siblings. However, only children without half-siblings were consistently healthier than those with half-siblings, suggesting that parental disruption confers additional disadvantages. The health disadvantage was attenuated but not fully explained by adjustment for parental characteristics and after using within-family maternal cousin comparison designs.