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- Data sets from Florida, USA and Denmark shows that second-born boys are more likely to be delinquent compared to their older sibling.
- Study authors concluded that second-born children tend to get less maternal attention compared to older sibling, influencing their delinquency problems.
Are you having difficulty raising your second born child?
If your answer is yes, you’re certainly not alone. Many parents are also experiencing what you are going through and science can actually back that up.
There is a link between birth order on deliquency, based on a recent study carried out by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After looking at a huge number of kids in data sets from the Florida, USA and from Denmark, researchers found that second-born boys are more likely to show delinquency problems compared to their older sibling.
“We find that second-born boys are substantially more likely to exhibit delinquency problems compared to their older sibling,” the authors wrote.
In fact, the study revealed that second-born boys are involved with the juvenile justice system at 40% rate higher than first-borns. School suspension rates were also found to be higher among second-borns. However, truancy rates were about the same between first and second-borns.
This phenomenon was observed mostly in families with two boys. Deliquency rates went down when a girl is added into the mix.
So what exactly influences second-borns to be more delinquent?
In case it’s not yet obvious, parents actually have a lot to do with this phenomenon. Apparently, the time and attention they get from their parents isn’t the same as first-borns.
“Second-born children tend to have less maternal attention than do their older siblings,” the authors explained.
