Sorry, Brother, Sisters Are Good for You

Three theories

(NEWSER) - You share a set of genes. You grew up in the same place, around the same family. So why aren’t you and your siblings at all alike? Researchers have long puzzled over the question of why brothers and sisters can wind up so different, and NPR tracks down three theories:

• The Darwin Theory: Evolution was driven, some theorize, by competition, with organisms specializing so they didn’t compete directly. Siblings may do the same thing, taking on different roles to less directly compete for their parents time and attention.

Boys who stay close with mom avoid unhealthy stereotypes

(NEWSER) - Being what Time describes as a "mama's boy" is good for you, a new study suggests. An Arizona State professor followed 426 boys through middle school to find out when and to what extent they embraced stereotypically male qualities like emotional reserve and physical toughness. He found that boys who shun hyper-masculine behavior have better mental health. And "mother support and closeness was the most predictive of boys' ability to resist stereotypes," the professor says. More»

Kids stress us out—but we still find them rewarding

(NEWSER) - Ask parents if their children make them happy and they’ll likely say yes. So why does almost every study on the subject show that having children tends to make people less happy—and that, in fact, many parents love their kids but hate parenting? In an extensive New York article , Jennifer Senior explores how parenting, and Americans’ reasons for having children, have changed over the decades. More»

Psych specialists lost five in shooting by fellow psychiatrist

(NEWSER) - The unit of psychiatric specialists who were among those fired on by rogue psychiatrist Nadal Malik Hasan Nov. 5th, seeing five comrades killed and 17 wounded, left for Afghanistan yesterday, right on schedule, reports the Washington Post. "This promises to be the most challenging year of our lives, though we have already faced our first battleground,” said a colonel in the detachment, which lost its major, staff sergeant, and sergeant. More»

Classic time-wasters seem to ease the symptoms of depression in studies

(NEWSER) - If depression's got you down, it might be time to turn to your Wii over your wee blue pills, reports the Washington Post in a look at how video games might ease the disease. For one depression sufferer, Bejeweled was "a big help in getting through to the next morning." And when she wrote parent company PopCap, it commissioned a study that concluded that players experienced better moods and heart rhythms. Now, it’s launching another study, testing it against clinical markers of depression. More»