The Relationship of Birth Order and Fraternal Position to Incidence of Insanity

Family Relationship Variables in Schizophrenia

“…In general, mixed results have been found. Schuler ( 1930), Malzberg (1940), Patterson & Zeigler (1941), Sherman & Kraines (1943), , Alanen (19581, and Schooler (1961), have reported minimal, although generally positive effects. In the Patterson & Zeigler study, for example, a sample of 442 male and female schizophrenics, who had been studied over a long period of time at the Neuropsychiatric Institute of the University Hospital, Ann Arbor, Michigan, were compared with 495 controls from the general medical services of the same hospital.…”

Order of birth in relation to the development of the child.

“…In a study from the Gal ton Laboratory, Heron (43) reported a disproportionate percentage of first-born among approximately 1000 asylum inmates. The most recent investigation of this subject (Schuler,69) covers 1224 cases in Minnesota institutions; in two-child families the marked individuals are more frequently first-born. Of those with paranoid dementia praecox nearly all are first-born.…”