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Psychosom Med. 2012 Jul-Aug;74(6):567-73. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0b013e31825941ff.

Parenthood and host resistance to the common cold.

Author information

1
Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. rsneed@andrew.cmu.edu

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To determine whether parenthood predicts host resistance to the common cold among healthy volunteers experimentally exposed to a common cold virus.

METHODS:

Participants were 795 healthy volunteers (age range = 18-55 years) enrolled in one of three viral-challenge studies conducted from 1993 to 2004. After reporting parenthood status, participants were quarantined, administered nasal drops containing one of four common cold viruses, and monitored for the development of a clinical cold (infection in the presence of objective signs of illness) on the day before and for 5 to 6 days after exposure. All analyses included controls for immunity to the experimental virus (prechallenge specific antibody titers), viral strain, season, age, sex, race/ethnicity, marital status, body mass, study, employment status, and education.

RESULTS:

Parents were less likely to develop colds than nonparents were (odds ratio [OR] = 0.48, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.31-0.73). This was true for both parents with one to two children (OR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.33-0.83) and three or more children (OR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.22-0.70). Parenthood was associated with a decreased risk of colds for both those with at least one child living at home (OR = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.24-0.87) and those whose children all lived away from home (OR = 0.27, 95% CI = 0.12-0.60). The relationship between parenthood and colds was not observed in parents aged 18 to 24 years but was pronounced among older parents.

CONCLUSIONS:

Parenthood was associated with greater host resistance to common cold viruses.

PMID:
22773866
PMCID:
PMC3746028
DOI:
10.1097/PSY.0b013e31825941ff
[Indexed for MEDLINE]
Free PMC Article

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