TY - JOUR
T1 - How growing up without siblings affects the adult brain and behaviour in the CHIMGEN cohort
AU - The CHIMGEN Consortium
AU - Tang, Jie
AU - Zhang, Jing
AU - Li, Wei
AU - Wang, Meiyun
AU - Cheng, Jingliang
AU - Zhang, Bing
AU - Zhu, Wenzhen
AU - Qiu, Shijun
AU - Cui, Guangbin
AU - Yu, Yongqiang
AU - Liao, Weihua
AU - Zhang, Hui
AU - Gao, Bo
AU - Xu, Xiaojun
AU - Yang, Yunjun
AU - Han, Tong
AU - Yao, Zhenwei
AU - Zhang, Quan
AU - Qin, Wen
AU - Liu, Feng
AU - Liang, Meng
AU - Wang, Sijia
AU - Xu, Qiang
AU - Xu, Jiayuan
AU - Fu, Jilian
AU - Ji, Yuan
AU - Liu, Nana
AU - Zhang, Peng
AU - Shi, Dapeng
AU - Wang, Caihong
AU - Lui, Su
AU - Yan, Zhihan
AU - Chen, Feng
AU - Shen, Wen
AU - Miao, Yanwei
AU - Wang, Dawei
AU - Xian, Junfang
AU - Zhang, Xiaochu
AU - Xu, Kai
AU - Zuo, Xi Nian
AU - Zhang, Longjiang
AU - Ye, Zhaoxiang
AU - Geng, Zuojun
AU - Gao, Jia Hong
AU - Yu, Chunshui
AU - Wu, Yue
AU - Lu, Hao
AU - Guo, Jun
AU - Lu, Yi
AU - Yang, Guoyuan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2025.
PY - 2025/5
Y1 - 2025/5
N2 - With the worldwide increase in only-child families, it is crucial to understand the effects of growing up without siblings (GWS) on the adult brain, behaviour and the underlying pathways. Using the CHIMGEN cohort, we investigated the associations of GWS with adult brain structure, function, connectivity, cognition, personality and mental health, as well as the pathway from GWS to GWS-related growth environments to brain and to behaviour development, in 2,397 pairs of individuals with and without siblings well matched in covariates. We found associations linking GWS to higher language fibre integrity, lower motor fibre integrity, larger cerebellar volume, smaller cerebral volume and lower frontotemporal spontaneous brain activity. Contrary to the stereotypical impression of associations between GWS and problem behaviours, we found positive correlations of GWS with neurocognition and mental health. Despite direct effects, GWS 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.
AB - With the worldwide increase in only-child families, it is crucial to understand the effects of growing up without siblings (GWS) on the adult brain, behaviour and the underlying pathways. Using the CHIMGEN cohort, we investigated the associations of GWS with adult brain structure, function, connectivity, cognition, personality and mental health, as well as the pathway from GWS to GWS-related growth environments to brain and to behaviour development, in 2,397 pairs of individuals with and without siblings well matched in covariates. We found associations linking GWS to higher language fibre integrity, lower motor fibre integrity, larger cerebellar volume, smaller cerebral volume and lower frontotemporal spontaneous brain activity. Contrary to the stereotypical impression of associations between GWS and problem behaviours, we found positive correlations of GWS with neurocognition and mental health. Despite direct effects, GWS 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.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105002079875
U2 - 10.1038/s41562-025-02142-4
DO - 10.1038/s41562-025-02142-4
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105002079875
SN - 2397-3374
VL - 9
SP - 1005
EP - 1022
JO - Nature Human Behaviour
JF - Nature Human Behaviour
IS - 5
ER -
可持续发展目标 3 良好健康与福祉