If you're fed up with a feckless man in your life, don't despair ... there may be an age-old solution.
Becoming a father for the first time really does make men grow up enough to turn their backs on alcohol, cigarettes and even crime, according to researchers.
And the "transformative effect" of fatherhood is particularly apparent in older men, they claim.
The study reveals that fatherhood made men curb their reckless behaviour, with males in their mid-20s and early 30s more likely to mature when they become a dad than those who are younger.
The U.S.-based scientists say that older men are especially likely to change their ways because they have matured to the point where they are willing to embrace fatherhood and leave bad habits behind.
Researchers from Oregon State University studied 200 males aged 12-31 who were classed as "at risk" because of their destructive behaviour.
They monitored volunteers annually for 19 years, looking at how their intake of alcohol and cigarettes had changed, as well as the number of crimes they committed.
While previous studies showed that marriage can change a man's negative behavior, they had not isolated the additional effects of fatherhood.
The results, published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, found that men who were well into their 20s and early 30s when they first had children showed greater decreases in crime and alcohol use than their younger counterparts.
Levels of tobacco use dropped among both older and younger men following the birth of their first child, probably because of warnings given over the dangers to infants' health posed by second-hand smoke.
Professor David Kerr, of Oregon State University and author of the study, said: "Fatherhood can be a transformative experience, even for men engaging in high risk behaviour. This presents a unique window of opportunity for intervention, because new fathers might be especially willing to make behavioural changes."


据英国《每日邮报》11月9日报道，如果你对生活中不负责任的男性伴侣感到厌倦，不要绝望......有一个古老的解决办法。
调查发现，第一次做父亲的确能使男人成熟起来，足以让他们抛弃酒精、香烟，甚至不再犯罪。

研究人员还声称，这种父性的"转变效应"在年龄较大的男人身上表现得更加明显。
研究显示，成为父亲能使男性约束自己鲁莽不负责任的行为，那些二十四五岁到三十岁出头的男人，在他们成为父亲时，比那些更年轻的男性更容易趋于成熟。

美国科学家说，年长的男性尤其有可能转变生活方式，因为他们已经足够成熟，愿意接受成为一个父亲，并抛弃往日的坏习惯。

来自俄勒冈州立大学的研究人员调查了两百名年龄在12岁到31岁之间的男性，这些人都因为他们的破坏性行为而被归类为"危险人群"。

研究人员在19年间不间断监测这些志愿者，观察他们酒精和香烟摄入量发生的变化，以及他们犯罪的次数。

虽然以前的研究表明婚姻能够改变一个男人的消极行为，但他们并没有将做父亲产生的附加效果单独分离出来。

发表在《婚姻与家庭》杂志上的研究成果指出，男性如果恰好在20多岁到30岁出头这个年龄段有了自己的第一个孩子，那么在犯罪率和酒精摄入量方面比起那些更年轻的男性会减少的更多。

随着第一个孩子的诞生，烟草的使用量在较年长和较年轻的男性群体中都会下降，这可能是出于二手烟会危及婴儿健康的考虑。

研究报告的作者，俄勒冈州立大学教授大卫•科尔说："做父亲是一种变革性的体验，即使是对于那些总是做出高危行为的男性来说也是如此。这也为改变不良习惯创造了一个新的机会，因为新上任的父亲很可能特别渴望有一些行为上的改变。"

• despair [di´speə] vi.&n.绝望 (初中英语单词)
• alcohol [´ælkəhɔl] n.酒精；醇 (初中英语单词)
• apparent [ə´pærənt] a.显然的；表面上的 (初中英语单词)
• willing [´wiliŋ] a.情愿的，乐意的 (初中英语单词)
• embrace [im´breis] vt.&n.拥抱；采纳；信奉 (初中英语单词)
• previous [´pri:viəs] a.先，前，以前的 (初中英语单词)
• additional [ə´diʃənəl] a.附加的，额外的 (初中英语单词)
• journal [´dʒə:nəl] n.日记；日报；杂志 (初中英语单词)
• tobacco [tə´bækəu] n.烟草(叶)；卷烟 (初中英语单词)
• second-hand [,sekənd´hænd] a.用过的；间接的 (初中英语单词)
• reckless [´rekləs] a.不注意的；鲁莽的 (高中英语单词)
• mature [mə´tjuə] a.成熟的 v.(使)成熟 (高中英语单词)
• oregon [´ɔrigən] n.俄勒冈 (高中英语单词)
• studied [´stʌdid] a.故意的；有计划的 (高中英语单词)
• annually [´ænjuəli] ad.每年；按年计算 (高中英语单词)
• negative [´negətiv] a.否定的 n.否定词 (高中英语单词)
• behavior [bi´heiviə] n.举止，行为 (高中英语单词)
• unique [ju:´ni:k] a.唯一的 n.独一无二 (高中英语单词)
• destructive [di´strʌktiv] a.破坏性的 (英语四级单词)
• intervention [,intə´venʃən] n.干涉；调停；插入 (英语六级单词)