最新研究發現，帶孫子並不真的能讓祖父母覺得變年輕 Study finds that taking care of grandchildren will not make you feel younger

　
People usually believe that looking after grandchildren makes grandparents more energetic, happier, and younger. It would seem that grandparental childcare offers both mental and physical advantages to the elderly.

However, a recent study found that caring for grandchildren bringing a “rejuvenating effect” is a myth. Previous studies seldom interviewed the same grandparents before and after giving childcare. Researchers also noticed previous studies tend to lose sight of those who dropped out of research due to health problems.

Feeling younger might have more to do with a person’s character traits and family values than childcare alone. The reality might be that, instead of childcare making grandparents feel younger, those who have a younger subjective age are more willing to take up caring for their grandchildren.

友善讓你懂 │ 解說：

　
人們通常認為爺爺奶奶帶孫子長大，能讓他們覺得更有活力、生活更開心，連帶覺得變年輕了起來。祖父母自己帶孫子似乎可以同時給年長者帶來生理與心理的雙重好處。

然而，最近一項研究發現，普遍認為照顧孫子能產生「回春效應」的印象其實是錯誤的。之前的相關研究，很少會針對同一位祖父母在帶孫子前、後都進行訪問。研究人員同時也注意到，之前的研究傾向於忽視那些「因為健康問題」而中途退出研究的長輩們。導致研究結果因為排除了較為負面的數據，而顯得過度樂觀。

「變年輕」的感覺，與其說是照顧孫子帶來的，不如說跟一個人的個性特質還有家庭價值觀更有關係。實際的情況可能是，比起照顧孫子讓祖父母們覺得變年輕，更像是自己覺得主觀年齡比較年輕的年長者，更樂於照顧孫子。

輕鬆帶著走 │ 學習：

　
sight 是「視力；視野、景象」的意思，lose sight of sth 字面上的意義是沒看到某個東西，延伸為「忘記、忽略」了某個東西或某件事。

例句：They lost sight of what they intended to achieve.
他們忘記了原本想追求的目標。

本篇其他相關單字，介紹如下：

• look after　照顧
• childcare　(n.) 兒童照護
• caregiving　(n.) 照顧
• rejuvenate　(v.) 使…變年輕
• myth　(n.) 神話
• trait　(n.) 特質
• subjective　(adj.) 主觀的