Among the self-development books, there was one with the title ‘Youth is when it hurts’. The point is not to get frustrated as everyone has a difficult experience in their youth, but because of the title, it is a book that aroused antipathy from readers such as ‘If you are sick메이저사이트, you are a patient, not a youth’ or ‘If you are sick, you should go to the hospital’. As much as the phrase “youth when you are sick”, self-help books and older generations often say, “You can go through hardships because you are young” or “You make people who face great adversity.” Is it really so?

According to the latest research by evolutionary biologists, psychologists, and anthropologists, there are only a handful of cases in which people thrive against adversity, and it is difficult to generalize.

A joint research team from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Foundation in Rwanda, the Center for Animal Behavior Research in the Department of Psychology at the University of Exeter in the UK, and the Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in the US, announced on the 21st that most animal species, including humans, often experience difficulties in their adulthood if they experience difficulties in childhood. . The results of this study were published on May 16 in ‘Current Biology,’ an international journal in the field of life science.

Previous studies on gorillas, primates close to humans, have shown that, unlike other animal species, they are surprisingly resilient even after losing their parents in childhood. The research team set out to re-examine previous research. Losing a parent is one of many difficulties, looking at how well they grow up in the face of other adversity.

To analyze the impact of early life difficulties on growth, the research team analyzed gorillas, which have a long lifespan and a small number of offspring, like humans. Because gorillas all eat similar diets, get regular exercise as part of their daily routine, and don’t engage in human health negative behaviors such as smoking or drinking, gorillas are ideal candidates for understanding the effects of early adversity.

The research team, supported by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Foundation, conducted long-term follow-up of 253 wild mountain gorillas, 135 males and 118 females, in Rwanda’s Volcano National Park for 55 years.

After classifying childhood adversity into six categories, including parental loss, social group instability, and infanticide survivors, the research team determined how many childhood difficulties each gorilla experienced, at what age, and how long they lived. analyzed how much

Childhood Adversity, Shortened Lifespan and Reduced Fertility
Protecting Social Groups Helps Overcome Childhood Adversity

As a result, it was confirmed that the more difficulties gorillas experienced before the age of 6, the shorter their lifespan. Adversity experienced after the age of 6 did not appear to have a significant impact on the course of life. Also, to a lesser extent, gorillas that survived adversity have been observed to live similar lifespans to gorillas that have not experienced adversity.

Even if they survived childhood adversity, they often suffered from poor health, fewer children, and shorter lifespans, the research team found. The research team added that adversity in childhood makes life difficult as an adult. Some of the gorillas who suffered adversity before the age of six grow up to be normal adults, which is when they fill the gap in social companionship on behalf of their parents, rather than being isolated in close relationships in the social group, the research team emphasized.

Stacey Rosenbaum, a professor of biological anthropology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, who led the study, said, “This study shows that childhood adversity can increase the risk of death and reduce quality of life in adulthood.” Professor Rosenbaum said, “Further research is needed to see if the results of this study hold true for humans,” but “what is clear is that this study shows the importance of providing sufficient social buffers for isolated and struggling young individuals.” added.