Sibling Patterns in Schizophrenia

Abstract

It has been hypothesized that siblings in different positions within the family constellation are subject to varying degrees of stress (1, 2). Owing to this factor, the first-born sibling is not infrequently presented as having significantly greater difficulties in adjustment than the later born (3). Since stress is believed to be an etiological variable in schizophrenia, attempts were made to establish the existence of a definite relationship between sibling position (especially that of the first-born) and the incidence of this disease in a large sample (1). This relationship has, however, never been satisfactorily established (4). In the majority of studies, families of all sizes, as well as families that are most probably incomplete-containing other psychotic siblings, siblings who have died, and so on-are included in the samples. Thus, the conclusions lack consistency, in part at least, because of shortcomings in statistical design or analysis (5). An attempt was made in the study discussed in this report to investigate the hypothesized relationship between sibling position and incidence of schizophrenia in such a way as to minimize the errors mentioned.The data were collected during 1955 and 1956 at Warren State Hospital, Warren, Pennsylvania. The cases studied were restricted to schizophrenic patients with two normal siblings and were drawn from the following sources: the files of such patients present in the hospital for more than 2 years and the files of such patients discharged over a period of 15 years. The information recorded in each file included the age and the sex of the patient and of his siblings, so that ordinal position by sex could be determined. Families containing adopted children or stepchildren, twins, triplets, or siblings who had also been hospitalized for any mental disease were rejected. Also excluded were cases in which a sibling had died before the patient reached his 20th year, or in

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Actions of dexamphetamine and amphetamine‐like amines in chickens with brain transections

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