Always thought it's the mother-in-law who makes the life of her son's wife a living hell? Well, according to a research, the daughter-in-law is actually primed for revenge.
Research shows women who are cared for by their son's wife in later life fare less well than those looked after by their own daughter.
In fact, the set-up is so unhealthy an elderly woman would be better off living by herself.
According to Japanese researchers, the friction in the mother and daughter-in-law relationships is at the heart of their results, with years of arguments finally taking their toll.
During the four-year study, the scientists tracked almost 200 elderly Japanese men and women.
Their analysis revealed that living with a son and his wife to be highly detrimental to a woman's health.
A woman cared for by her daughter-in-law was twice as likely to have died as one who lived with her daughter.
"These findings are provocative in that they suggest a survival disadvantage for women who are cared for by their daughters-in-law, that is a daughter-in-law 'penalty,'" the Daily Mail quoted the University of Tsukuba researchers as saying.
At its heart could be the 'strained relationship' between the two women, who traditionally are fighting for the affections of the same man.
Previous research by Cambridge and Exeter university scientists suggests the rivalry between a woman and her mother-in-law may have been behind the evolution of the menopause.
They believe it is nature's way of creating a truce in families. If older women are unable to have children, the younger females are free to lavish the family's resources on their children.
The study has been published in the journal BMC Geriatrics.
Research shows women who are cared for by their son's wife in later life fare less well than those looked after by their own daughter.
In fact, the set-up is so unhealthy an elderly woman would be better off living by herself.
According to Japanese researchers, the friction in the mother and daughter-in-law relationships is at the heart of their results, with years of arguments finally taking their toll.
During the four-year study, the scientists tracked almost 200 elderly Japanese men and women.
Their analysis revealed that living with a son and his wife to be highly detrimental to a woman's health.
A woman cared for by her daughter-in-law was twice as likely to have died as one who lived with her daughter.
"These findings are provocative in that they suggest a survival disadvantage for women who are cared for by their daughters-in-law, that is a daughter-in-law 'penalty,'" the Daily Mail quoted the University of Tsukuba researchers as saying.
At its heart could be the 'strained relationship' between the two women, who traditionally are fighting for the affections of the same man.
Previous research by Cambridge and Exeter university scientists suggests the rivalry between a woman and her mother-in-law may have been behind the evolution of the menopause.
They believe it is nature's way of creating a truce in families. If older women are unable to have children, the younger females are free to lavish the family's resources on their children.
The study has been published in the journal BMC Geriatrics.
FACT: A MIL-DIL relationship is largely an unhealthy one in almost all cultures, all times.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the sense in forcing the two to live under one roof when even without research everyone knows the two bring out the worst in the other?
Usually in India it is the young DIL who is burnt or murdered or pushed to commit suicide or landing up in a a psychiatric ward. Nobody has to even do any research to establish this fact.
Why does this culture still push the two to live together as if it is the most natural thing in the world? Is it not obvious that the two must be kept as far apart from each other as possible?