Class
Article
Department
Psychology Department
Faculty Mentor
Lori Roggman
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
Most children have a sibling. Siblings can be important for early development. They help younger siblings learn to socialize and understand others by promoting cognitive and language development (Howe & Recchia, 2014). Siblings promote cognitive development by teaching younger siblings new concepts (Brody, 2004; Dunn,1983). Language development is nurtured by siblings directly through cooperative pretend play and conflict (Cutting & Dunn, 2006), as well as indirectly by having more opportunities to hear more pronouns and conversations between older siblings and parents (Oshima-Takane et al., 1996). The influence of having siblings may provide extra support for young children in low income families by helping to develop better language and more successful readers (Norman-Jackson, 1982). More research is needed to study the effects of having older siblings in families of lower income status. The purpose of this study is to see how having an older sibling can influence young children’s development at 36 months in low-income families. Extant data from 2,970 infants from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project (EHSREP), a nationwide study of low-income infants and their families, were used for this study. Of those children in the EHSREP, 1,112 had older siblings. Infant development was measured at 36 months using Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID-II) Mental Development Index (Bayley, 1993) for cognitive development and the Emotion Regulation and Orientation/Engagement subscales of the BSID Behavior Rating Scales (Bayley, 1993) for personal social development. T-tests indicate significant differences between children with older siblings and those without older siblings in Orientation/Engagement scores, t(1755)=-4.18, p = .001. Children with older siblings had slightly lower Orientation/Engagement scores than firstborn children. Although results proved to be non-significant, it shows that children are not at a disadvantage if they do not have a sibling for these variables. Presentation Time: Wednesday, 10-11 a.m.
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-12-2021 12:00 AM
Included in
Effects of Older Siblings on Early Childhood Development in Low-Income Families
Logan, UT
Most children have a sibling. Siblings can be important for early development. They help younger siblings learn to socialize and understand others by promoting cognitive and language development (Howe & Recchia, 2014). Siblings promote cognitive development by teaching younger siblings new concepts (Brody, 2004; Dunn,1983). Language development is nurtured by siblings directly through cooperative pretend play and conflict (Cutting & Dunn, 2006), as well as indirectly by having more opportunities to hear more pronouns and conversations between older siblings and parents (Oshima-Takane et al., 1996). The influence of having siblings may provide extra support for young children in low income families by helping to develop better language and more successful readers (Norman-Jackson, 1982). More research is needed to study the effects of having older siblings in families of lower income status. The purpose of this study is to see how having an older sibling can influence young children’s development at 36 months in low-income families. Extant data from 2,970 infants from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project (EHSREP), a nationwide study of low-income infants and their families, were used for this study. Of those children in the EHSREP, 1,112 had older siblings. Infant development was measured at 36 months using Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID-II) Mental Development Index (Bayley, 1993) for cognitive development and the Emotion Regulation and Orientation/Engagement subscales of the BSID Behavior Rating Scales (Bayley, 1993) for personal social development. T-tests indicate significant differences between children with older siblings and those without older siblings in Orientation/Engagement scores, t(1755)=-4.18, p = .001. Children with older siblings had slightly lower Orientation/Engagement scores than firstborn children. Although results proved to be non-significant, it shows that children are not at a disadvantage if they do not have a sibling for these variables. Presentation Time: Wednesday, 10-11 a.m.