Birth Order and Sex of Sibling as Determinants of Mother-Infant Interaction

Abstract

Mother-infant interaction was assessed on 32 first- and second-born siblings when each was 3 months old. Data were colleted during 2 6-hour naturalistic home observations using a modified time-sampling technique. The sample consisted of 4 equal-size subgroups of same and opposite sex sibling pairs. Results suggested that interaction between a mother and her infant varied depending on the birth order and gender of the infant. Mothers spent significantly less time in social, affectionate, and caretaking interaction (except for feeding activities) with their second borns than they had with their firstborns; this difference was greater if the second born was female. Certain patterns of maternal behaviors appeared to be stable from one sibling to the other. Different types of interaction between the mothers and their younger infants were related to attention-seeking behavior in the firstborn male and female siblings.

Antecedents of mirror self‐recognition of toddlers: Emotional availability, birth order, and gender

“…This result lends some support to hypothesis 4. It also appears to replicate data indicating that mother's relation with a second-born child is characterized by more positive affect than her relations with other siblings (Jacobs & Moss, 1976). Moore, Cohn, and Campbell (1997) suggested in this context that the anxiety associated with the passage to motherhood might reduce mother's ability to express her positive emotions for her first-born child.…”

“…Comparisons among siblings in the same family did not find consistent links between maternal behavior and child ordinal position (Dunn & Plomin, 1990;Dunn, Plomin, & Daniels, 1986;Dunn, Plomin, & Nettles, 1985). There is reason to believe, however, that while first-born children often get more parental attention and care than younger siblings (Cohen & Beckwith, 1977;Seifer et al, 1992), mothers tend to interact more positively with their second-born children than with other children (Lasko, 1954;Jacobs & Moss, 1976). These findings may suggest that greater parental concern and attention experienced by first-born infants will make them more responsive to mother's bids than younger siblings, whereas mothers will be more emotionally available to their second-born children.…”

Moving to an Earnings-Related Parental Leave System Do Heterogeneous Effects on Parents Make Some Children Worse Off?

“…Jacobs and Moss, 1976) points out that mother-child interactions differ between firstborn children and those born thereafter. The results could thus depend on whether the newborn child is the mother's firstborn or a child from a higher birthorder.…”

Implicações emocionais da chegada de um irmão para o primogênito: uma revisão da literatura

“…Estas diferentes experiências estão associadas à ordem de nascimento, à disponibilidade e ao investimento de recursos parentais, bem como à habilidade no cuidado dos pais fornecido à criança (Jacobs & Moss, 1976). As atitudes e percepções parentais poderiam, então, favorecer a manifestação tanto de comportamentos de independência quanto de dependência do primogênito (Legg et al, 1974).…”