Sibling Bullying Makes Children Mentally Vulnerable – In Indonesia, the average family has two children. However, in certain regions or demographics, having many children is still considered quite normal. As the saying goes, “many children, many blessings.”
In fact, children raised with many older or younger siblings are found to have their own unique mental vulnerabilities.
A study from the Journal of Family Issues reports this finding. The researchers studied 9,400 children in China and 9,100 children in the United States. The participating children were asked to respond to critical statements such as “I feel worthless.”
The results were quite surprising. Only children gave better responses, indicating better mental health.
Conversely, those with many siblings were found to have poorer mental health. Furthermore, the study also revealed that siblings who are close in age have higher rates of mental health issues.
Meanwhile, only children and children with one sibling in the United States have better mental health.
Sibling Bullying: The Effects of Having Many Siblings
A researcher named Dr. Downey, a professor at Ohio University, states that having siblings can reduce the quality of the resources and facilities provided by parents and disrupt the ideal parent-child interaction.
Dr. Corinna Jenkins Tucker offers her own explanation. According to her, parents must anticipate the issue of sibling bullying.
Sibling bullying occurs when one or more siblings bully another sibling.
Although it may seem trivial, bullying among siblings can lead to various mental health issues for the victim later in life.
Ironically, the rate of sibling bullying in the United States is actually very high.
This is based on data collected by the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV).
As many as two-thirds of 3,600 American children under the age of 17 reported that they had experienced bullying from their own siblings.
The Positive Effects of Having Many Siblings
Although having siblings can have unpleasant consequences, parents need to understand that the study does not distinguish between healthy and toxic sibling relationships.
In fact, some previous studies have actually suggested that having siblings can make a child better.
Children with siblings tend to be more empathetic, competitive, and socially active.
According to Dr. Shawn Sidhu, the negative effects of having siblings only occur when the relationship formed is an unhealthy one.
Under such conditions, sibling relationships can actually lead to traumatic experiences.
What Should Parents Do When They Have Many Children?
According to Dr. Shawn Sidhu of Health Science Newsroom, parents should not treat one child differently from another.
Comparing children can have negative effects because it creates “sibling rivalry.”
Those who perform poorly may grow up with feelings of inferiority that can have negative consequences later in life. Sibling relationships also become strained when parents have a favorite child.
Sibling bullying, therefore, must also be watched out for. Parents must have the ability to ensure all their children love one another.
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Furthermore, parents should not turn a blind eye when one of their children exhibits undesirable behavior.
For example, engaging in promiscuous behavior. This is because when one child does something wrong, their younger siblings are more likely to follow suit.
In many countries, the trend of having large families has been on the decline.
However, researchers have not yet drawn any conclusions about the effects of having many siblings on societies with this pattern.
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