About this srcd poster session

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Panel information
Panel 9. Family Context & Processes

Abstract

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Background: The developmental outcomes of only children versus those with siblings have received significant attention in the literature (Bagger et al.,2021; Downey et al., 2015; Kanazawa, 2012). Most studies, however, have primarily focused on the presence or absence of siblings, overlooking dimensions like birth order and sibling sex. Additionally, much of the existing research centers on adults' academic achievement or salary and children's cognitive performance, while social-behavioral aspects remain understudied, especially among adolescents. This study aims to fill this gap by comprehensively examining the influence of sibling structure on adolescents' academic performance, as well as their social and psychological adjustments.

Method: Participants included 5,395 early adolescents (49.5% boys), with the average age of 12 years and 6 months (SD = 17 months). Sample comprises 2941 only children and 2,454 children with one sibling. Among the sibling group, 6.7% had an older brother, 44.7% had an older sister, 25.6% had a younger brother, and 23.1% had a younger sister. Participants were recruited from 4th to 8th grade public schools in China, where classroom structures are relatively the same. Each class consists of approximately 50 students under the supervision of one head teacher, who is responsible for students’ daily activities. Students completed a series of assessments, including peer nomination of aggression, shyness, peer victimization and rejection, as well as peer acceptance. Item scores were calculated from classmate nominations, which were then standardized to adjust for differences in the number of nominators. Additionally, loneliness and depression were collected from self-reports. Head teachers reported on students' academic performance and rated each student's learning problems.

Results: Ordinary least squares regressions were conducted to examine the associations between sibling structures and children's academic performance, social adjustments, and psychological well-being, with only children serving as the reference group. Several significant relationships were identified, along with notable interactions between the sex of the target child and that of their sibling across multiple outcomes. A consistent pattern suggests that boys with younger brothers are more likely to experience peer rejection (β = 0.28, p = 0.01) and victimization (β = 0.30, p = 0.01), as well as elevated levels of shyness (β = 0.18, p = 0.03) and loneliness (β = 0.21, p < 0.001) compared to only children and other sibling pairs. These effects were not observed in girls with younger brothers. Conversely, girls with younger brothers were less likely to face peer rejection (β = -0.11, p = 0.03) and victimization (β = -0.08, p = 0.04). Academically, children with an older sibling, whether brothers (β = -0.16, p < 0.001) or sisters (β = -0.06, p = 0.02), performed worse than only children. Data analysis is ongoing, and future steps involve organization of latent variables and further exploration using multi-level structural equation modeling.

Implication: These findings provide researchers with novel insights into the influences of different sibling structures and highlight the importance of considering these structures when investigating the effects of siblings on adolescents' development. Acknowledging the effect of sibling structure on adolescents' development also helps caregivers better understand the family dynamic and how to support each child more effectively.

Author information

Author	Role
Ziyue Zhao, University of Pennsylvania	Presenting author
Xinyin Chen, University of Pennsylvania	Non-presenting author

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