University:
California State University, Northridge
Course:
EPC 672 | Mental Health Assessment and Diagnosis
Academic year:

2024
Views:

307

Pages:

1
Author:

Russell Burn

Study shows that first-borns have a mental edge Research suggests that first-born children have better thinking skills than their siblings because their parents give them more mental stimulation when they are young. The study found that first-borns do better on IQ tests than their siblings as early as age one. Even though all the kids got the same amount of emotional support, the first-born kids got more help with tasks that helped them think. Explaining the effect of birth order Researchers assert that the findings may elucidate the phenomenon known as the birth order effect, wherein children born earlier in a family attain superior wages and higher education in adulthood. The University of Edinburgh, Analysis Group, and the University of Sydney economists looked at data from the U.S. Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, which the US Bureau of Labor Statistics collected. Researchers looked at almost 5,000 kids from before they were born until they were 14 years old. Every two years, each child was tested. The tests included picture vocabulary tests, reading recognition tests where students had to match letters, name names, and read single words aloud. They also gathered information about things like family background and economic conditions that affect the environment. Watching how parents act Researchers utilized statistical techniques on economic data to examine the correlation between parental behavior and children's test scores. The researchers employed the Home Observation Measurement of the Environment as an assessment tool to examine parental behavior, encompassing prenatal behaviors like smoking and drinking during pregnancy, as well as postnatal behaviors such as providing mental stimulation and emotional support. The results indicated that the benefits experienced by first-born siblings commence at a very early stage of life, specifically from shortly after birth to three years of age. The differences got a little bigger as the kids got older, and they showed up in test scores that measured reading, math, comprehension, and verbal skills. Disparities in cognitive stimulation Researchers discovered that parents altered their behavior with the birth of subsequent children. They didn't give younger siblings as much mental stimulation and didn't do as many things with them, like reading, doing crafts, or playing musical instruments. Mothers also took more risks during the pregnancy of their later-born children, like smoking more.

First Borns Have Mental Edge

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