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Children's experiences after the unintended birth of a sibling

Jennifer S Barber1, Patricia L East

  • 1Department of Sociology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, USA. jebarber@umich.edu

Demography
|February 22, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Unintended sibling births negatively impact children. Children with an unintended younger sibling experienced worse home environments and more behavioral issues, especially boys.

Area of Science:

  • Family Studies
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Sociology

Background:

  • The arrival of a new sibling significantly impacts family dynamics and child development.
  • Previous research has explored the effects of sibling births, but the impact of intention (intended vs. unintended) is less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the differential effects of intended versus unintended sibling births on the home environment and child behavioral problems.
  • To determine if unintended births have negative spillover effects on existing children.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 79 (NLSY79).
  • Employed cross-lag regression models to analyze changes in home environment quality and child behavioral problems post-sibling birth.
  • Differentiated between intended and unintended sibling births.

Main Results:

  • Children with an unintended younger sibling experienced significant declines in home environment quality compared to those with an intended sibling.
  • Boys with an unintended younger sibling showed larger increases in behavioral problems.
  • Mistimed births appeared to have a more pronounced negative effect than unwanted births, warranting further investigation.

Conclusions:

  • Unintended sibling births have demonstrable negative spillover effects on the home environment and child behavior.
  • Findings highlight the importance of considering birth intention when examining sibling effects.
  • Further research is needed to understand the nuances of mistimed versus unwanted births.

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