Washington, Jul 5 (IANS): If you are a parent, then you are 52 percent less likely to develop a cold than non-parents, says a latest research.

"We have had a long-term interest in how various social relationships influence health outcomes," said Sheldon Cohen, professor of psychology at Carnegie College of Humanities and Social Sciences, who led the study with Rodlescia S. Sneed.

"Parenthood was especially interesting to us because it has been proposed that it can have both positive and negative effects on health," Cohen was quoted as saying in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

"For example, being a parent can be stressful but at the same time can be fulfilling, facilitate the development of a social network and provide purpose in life," said Cohen, according to a university statement.

Cohen, Sneed, Ronald B. Turner from the University of Virginia and William J. Doyle, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, exposed 795 healthy adults aged between 18 and 55 years to the common cold virus.

Parents with one or two children were 48 percent less likely to get sick while parents with three or more children were 61 percent less likely to develop a cold.

Both parents with children living at home and away from home showed a decreased risk of catching a cold. And, while parents older than age 24 were protected from the cold virus, parenthood did not influence whether those aged 18-24 years became ill.