In one study, only children scored lower on tolerance, altruism, cooperation, and helping, but performed better on tests of creative thinking.
It is important for parents to work harder to teach their only children social skills (Pixels)
A mother gives birth to her first child, and within two years, she finds him attached to her and begging for another child to play with like the rest of the children. She then considers the advice of relatives about having another child, to raise a normal son who does not suffer from “one-child syndrome.”
This idea instills anxiety in some people about their children's future, and gives others license to be selfish, overly attached, and reluctant to help others. But you might be surprised to learn what psychologists have to say about the long-term effects of having only one child, and what you should consider to raise a healthy person.
A nineteenth-century study of children and their siblings.
In a study of odd and exceptional children published in the 200th century, educator E.W. Bohannon of Clark University in Massachusetts detailed the results of a questionnaire—a novel form of data collection at the time—filled out by 196 selected individuals. The questionnaire asked respondents about any characteristics in the children they considered exceptional. In XNUMX cases, the participants described the children as being less than mischievous.
Bohannon's colleagues agreed with the findings and held onto the idea. The widespread skepticism toward children stemmed from the fact that middle-class families were having fewer children, and that the privileged class feared growing up in the "lower classes." Furthermore, some in the early 20th century were concerned about growing up with siblings. It made children more sensitive: if parents focused all their worries and concerns on their offspring, that child became hypersensitive, and eventually, with weak nerves.
A 21st Century Study of Children and Their Siblings.
According to data collected in the 1986st century, these concepts are meaningless, and children only show serious deficits. Tony Falbo, a psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin, disagrees. In his 200 study, which examined more than XNUMX studies on the subject, he concluded that the characteristics of children with and without siblings do not differ. The only difference, she found, was that only children with siblings had stronger bonds with their parents than children with siblings.
Study 2018
This idea was later confirmed by a 2018 study in which Andreas Klocke and Sven Stadtmüller of the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences used longitudinal data from nearly 10 German schoolchildren to track the characteristics of firstborns, first-borns, and those with siblings. Among other things, they looked at the quality of the parent-child relationship, a measure of how easily a child can talk to their parents about important matters.
The selfish child: myth or reality?
Some of the behavioral effects of single children include being alone a lot, spending a lot of time with their parents, feeling pressured to succeed, constantly having their parents' attention, and having most of their needs and desires met. However, psychologist Paulette Sherman emphasizes the positive aspects of this for their cognitive and social development, as they develop a closer relationship with their parents during childhood and adolescence and are more independent most of the time. Research has shown that they fare no worse than children who grow up with siblings.
The concept of "one-child syndrome" emerged in the late 19th century when child psychologists G. Stanley Hall and E.W. Bohannon used a questionnaire to study and categorize 200 children according to a number of traits. The result was that those without siblings had poor morals and suffered from cognitive and perceptual impairments.
This finding was reinforced by the fact that middle-class families had fewer children due to poverty, while the upper classes feared the increasing number of children in the lower classes and were therefore more procreative. The study was later described as flawed and biased against the poor, and no similar result has come to light since.
In later years, it appeared that the behavioral characteristics of only children or children with siblings did not differ, but rather that the only difference was that one child enjoyed a stronger relationship with his or her parents than the others. This first appeared in a review of the results of more than 200 studies in 1986, and the idea was later confirmed.
How is one child different from the rest?
China has had a one-child policy for more than three decades, for developmental reasons, but research on the quality of parent-child relationships has had its own take. The Institute of Population and Development Studies at Xi'an University published the results of a 3 study, after conducting a survey among high school students. Researchers found that one-child relationships tend to be stronger and deeper than those with other children, including firstborns and families with only two children.
Another study, led by Chinese psychologist Jiang Qiu of Southwest University in Chongqing, examined three groups of only children, firstborn children, and children with older siblings to measure dimensions of their personality and cognitive development.
Only children scored lower on tolerance, altruism, cooperation, and helpfulness, but performed better on tests of creative thinking. For example, they were better able to solve problems in more creative ways, and their thinking was characterized by flexibility and resourcefulness. Researchers explained this by the fact that only children are often forced to rely on themselves at an early age.
Surprisingly, the MRI results revealed differences in brain structure among children. Only children developed a cortical region associated with creativity and imagination, and a region associated with intelligence. However, researchers discovered fewer cells in both regions in the brains of children with siblings.
Another advantage of raising one child is the common belief that sibling bullying is normal or harmless. However, there is ample evidence that sibling bullying increases the likelihood of reporting a number of psychological problems in childhood and early adulthood, such as depression, anxiety, self-harm, and mental disorders.
This happens because the bullying child feels inequality and has his own perception of the other child's relationship with his parents, so he adopts bullying behavior to improve his situation.
According to four studies conducted in different countries in 4, rates of sibling bullying are significantly higher than those of classmates. Nearly 2018% of children engage in bullying behavior toward their siblings every month, and between 50% and 16% are bullied more than once a week.
Relationship with parents
Only 24 percent of children considered their relationship with their parents positive. Slightly less than 20 percent of firstborns, 18 percent of middle children, and XNUMX percent of toddlers reported good relationships with their parents.
Despite having strong bonds with their parents, only children often regret growing up without siblings. In 2001, Lizine Roberts of Western Carolina University and Priscilla Blanton of the University of Tennessee Knoxville asked young people to reflect on their childhoods. Many found it particularly regrettable that they didn't have a trusted companion like they had with siblings. In fact, preschoolers often develop imaginary friends with whom they can be allies and share everyday things. But there's no cause for concern; creative play with imaginary friends promotes social development and the ability to communicate.
China Research
However, there are indications that children are less willing to reconcile with others. In new findings from China, where the one-child policy has enforced family planning for nearly four decades, researchers led by psychologist Jiang Qiu of Southwest University, Chongqing, examined 126 students without siblings and 177 with siblings on their reasoning ability and personality. In just one survey, the children scored lower on how tolerant they were. According to the five-factor model, agreeable individuals are characterized by altruism, helpfulness, compassion, and cooperation. Agreeable individuals are often categorized as quarrelsome, distrustful, selfish, and more competitive.
The students were also asked to master a creativity test known as the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT). For example, they had to come up with as many original uses as possible for an everyday object, such as a tin can. As it turned out, only children appeared to be better lateral thinkers, meaning they could solve problems more creatively, particularly in the flexible thinking category. The authors may explain this because, without siblings, children often had to rely on themselves and thus were forced to become solitary creators at an early age.
How do you raise one child together?
The negative consequences of being an only child leave lasting effects when they don't have the opportunity to socialize with people outside their family, especially other children. They may face some difficulties at the beginning of school, or when engaging in sports and social activities. However, over time, they come to understand their situation and skills and develop a level of adaptation and comfort in their new community, which doesn't necessarily mean the emergence of stereotypical behaviors typical of a single child.
One of the best things a family and child can develop is being aware of the negative aspects of raising one child. It's important to recognize that an excessive tendency toward achievement and success can lead to exhaustion and stress, as can the pursuit of attention. Therefore, it's important to allow one child to learn to share and cooperate to solve problems and to encourage them to play with other children and form competitive teams in their early childhood years.
It is important for parents to work harder to teach their only children social skills, and to create occasions when the child has to share his toys and books.
Otherwise, providing a loving and calm environment seems more important than the number of children in the family, as every family is different, even if there is only one child in the picture, and the way he grows will be unique to him.
MRI tests
But that's not all. MRI scans revealed differences in brain structure. In the parahippocampus, a cortical region associated with creativity and imagination, researchers found more gray matter (associated with intelligence) in the children with only siblings. However, they found fewer gray matter cells in the forebrain, specifically the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), in the children with only siblings than in those with siblings. This deficit was accompanied by lower tolerance. Previous studies have also attributed important functions to this brain region when it comes to processing emotional information, including the ability to attribute emotions to others and regulate one's own emotions.
How significant the effect of being an only child is is questionable. It may depend on the number of other opportunities a single child has to regularly develop their social and cognitive abilities. After all, children are not cut off from social circles; the interactions in kindergarten, for example, provide a diverse interpersonal training ground. Parents are likely to work harder at teaching their children social skills and engineering opportunities where children have to share their toys, books, and parental attention. Otherwise, creating a loving and nurturing environment appears to be more important than the number of children in a household.
