Number of Siblings and Social Skills Revisited Among American Fifth Graders

Abstract

Most research on the consequences of the number of siblings highlights their downside-the negative association between sibship size and educational outcomes. But recently scholars have begun to understand the potential benefits of siblings, with some research indicating that kindergartners are more socially adept when they have at least one brother or sister. We expand this line of inquiry by studying fifth graders, a point where sufficient school-based peer interactions have occurred to potentially eliminate the social skills deficit observed among only children beginning kindergarten. Analyzing 11,820 children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal StudyKindergarten Cohort of 1998-99, we find that, contrary to our expectations, only children failed to gain more social skills between kindergarten and fifth grade than their counterparts with siblings. This pattern has important implications for the one in five children now raised without siblings.

The effect of siblings on children's social skills and perspective taking

“…To further understand the influence of siblings on the development of social competence, we examined associations between sibling characteristics and child gender in relation to changes in children's social skills over 1 year. Previous research has shown that children with a sibling gained more social skills between kindergarten and fifth grade than children without siblings (Downey et al, ). However, our results suggest that the gender of the sibling may be particularly important for social skill development.…”

Psychosocial Deficits Associated With Teenagers Born and Raised in a “Small-House” Family Setting in Cherutombo in Marondera, Zimbabwe

“…In retrospect, the fact that these teenagers were acquiring some education could prove to be a positive factors for their psychosocial resilience. Downey, Condron and Yucel (2015) contend that educated people are more resilient and better able to deal with psychosocial stressors than the uneducated.…”

The Sibsize Revolution in International Context. Declining Social Disparities in the Number of Siblings in 26 Countries

“…Sibling interactions are believed to be useful for developing social skills and relations with peers (Whiteman et al, 2011), and having fewer siblings-or no siblings at all-can have grave behavioral consequences (Downey et al, 2015). For instance, Cameron et al (2013) describe Chinese only-children as less trusting, less trustworthy, more risk-averse, less competitive, more pessimistic, and less conscientious than their counterparts who have siblings.…”

“…Further, children with coresident siblings spent the majority of their discretionary time in activities with their siblings (Dunifon et al, 2017). Growing up without siblings goes along with fewer social skills during childhood (Downey et al, 2015). Siblings also bear importance beyond childhood, as they are typically the longest-lasting family relationship in an individual's life (Dunifon et al, 2017).…”