研究:家有兄弟 女孩晚熟

Boys may delay their sisters from becoming women and from having sex, new findings from Australia suggest.　　

男孩的存在可能會推遲自己姐妹變成女人以及發生性關係的時間，澳大利亞科學家的最新研究表明。

The presence of older brothers seemed to delay the onset of menstruation of girls by nearly a year on average, and having younger brothers seemed to postpone the beginning of sexual activity in women by slightly more than a year, scientists found after interviewing 273 Australians

科學家在調查訪問了273名澳大利亞人後發現，哥哥的存在會讓女孩子們的月經初潮平均晚來一年，而弟弟的存在則會使女孩初次發生性行爲的時間推遲一年以上。

To learn whether they also had an effect on their sisters' reproductive success, researchers investigated 197 women and 76 men. They ranged in age from 18 to 75, and all but 10 - seven of them women - had siblings.

爲了瞭解兄弟的存在是否會影響女孩子的生殖情況，研究人員調查訪問了197位女性和76位男性。他們年齡在18歲到75歲之間，除了10人沒有兄弟姐妹外（10人中有7位是女性），其他人都不是獨生子女。

"This research helps us to better understand how family dynamics influence development," said researcher Fritha Milne, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Western Australia.

“該項研究有助於我們更好地理解家庭動態如何影響生殖發育，”西澳大學行爲生態學家弗利沙-米爾恩說道。

In attempting to explain the delayed starts of menstruation and sexual activity, the researchers ruled out factors such as socioeconomic class. Instead, they conjectured that older brothers may have delayed the physiological maturation of sisters by absorbing more parental resources or by applying psychological stresses. Meanwhile, younger brothers may have delayed girls' behavioral maturation by demanding that their older sisters assume care-taking roles. 　　

爲了更好地解釋爲何女孩初潮以及第一次性關係發生時間會因兄弟的存在而推遲，研究人員排除了某些因素如社會經濟等級因素。相反地，他們推測兄長吸取了更多的父親元素且能夠施加心理壓力，故而使得女孩子月經初潮推遲。而弟弟希望姐姐承擔起照顧自己的責任，從而延遲了女孩們行爲的成熟。