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PubMed1985

Loneliness, birth order and social loss among a group of elderly women.

This paper is concerned with birth order as a childhood experience which may effect how and when older adults experience loneliness. In this study 207 elderly women (mean age 77) were studied in terms of birth order, social loss, depressive disorder and loneliness. As hypothesized, firstborns will experience less loneliness than laterborns under socially stable circumstances. But, after a social loss, firstborns are likely to experience more loneliness than laterborns. The effect of social loss and loneliness was also examined in terms of two health outcome variables--depressive disorder and physical complaints. No direct or indirect (via loneliness) effect of social loss on the health variables was found. Loneliness was found to have an effect on depressive disorder but not on physical complaints. Finally, for firstborns an interaction between social loss and loneliness was observed on physical complaint outcomes.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

Reanalysis of Bell, Weinberg, and Hammersmith's data on birth order, sibling sex ratio, and parental age in homosexual men.

The authors compared parental age, birth order, and sex ratio of siblings for 575 homosexual men and 284 heterosexual men, matched on age and education. They were originally part of Bell, Weinberg, and Hammersmith's large-scale study of male and female homosexuality. The results confirmed the previous findings that homosexual men have older fathers and later births than do heterosexual men but not the finding that homosexual men have larger proportions of brothers. The collective findings suggest that birth order is perhaps the single most reliable demographic difference between homosexual and heterosexual men.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Influence of maternal age at delivery and birth order on risk of type 1 diabetes in childhood: prospective population based family study. Bart's-Oxford Family Study Group.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the influence of parental age at delivery and birth order on subsequent risk of childhood diabetes. DESIGN: Prospective population based family study. SETTING: Area formerly administered by the Oxford Regional Health Authority. PARTICIPANTS: 1375 families in which one child or more had diabetes. Of 3221 offspring, 1431 had diabetes (median age at diagnosis 10.5 years, range 0.4-28.5) and 1790 remained non-diabetic at a median age of 16. 1 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Disease free survival and hazard ratios for the development of type 1 diabetes in all offspring, assessed by Cox proportional hazard regression. RESULTS: Maternal age at delivery was strongly related to risk of type 1 diabetes in the offspring; risk increased by 25% (95% confidence interval 17% to 34%) for each five year band of maternal age, so that maternal age at delivery of 45 years or more was associated with a relative risk of 3.11 (2.07 to 4.66) compared with a maternal age of less than 20 years. Paternal age was also associated with a 9% (3% to 16%) increase for each five year increase in paternal age. The relative risk of diabetes, adjusted for parental age at delivery and sex of offspring, decreased with increasing birth order; the overall effect was a 15% risk reduction (10% to 21%) per child born. CONCLUSIONS: A strong association was found between increasing maternal age at delivery and risk of diabetes in the child. Risk was highest in firstborn children and decreased progressively with higher birth order. The fetal environment seems to have a strong influence on risk of type 1 diabetes in the child. The increase in maternal age at delivery in the United Kingdom over the past two decades could partly account for the increase in incidence of childhood diabetes over this period.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Birth order and risk for schizophrenia: a 31-year follow-up of the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort.

OBJECTIVE: The Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort was studied in order to investigate the association between birth order and schizophrenia. METHOD: Four categories of birth order status (first-born, last-born, only child and other status) were formed and linked to data on psychiatric morbidity. Effects were adjusted for wantedness of pregnancy, perinatal complications, maternal age at delivery, family type and number of siblings. RESULTS: The risk for schizophrenia was elevated among male first-borns (ratio 1.5; 95% CI 1.0-2.2) and female last-borns (ratio 1.3; 95% CI 0.9-1.9). The risk was lower than expected among male last-borns (ratio 0.7; 95% CI 0.5-0.9) and females belonging to other status (ratio 0.6; 95% CI 0.3-0.9). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that specific birth order status is an independent risk factor for schizophrenia. Theoretical explanations may arise from biological factors unidentified here and/or psychological stressors linked with these positions.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

An investigation of family size and birth order as risk factors in leprosy.

To investigate if early exposure to Mycobacterium leprae is a factor determining development of Hansen's disease in general, or of a particular form of the disease, we have studied the sibship size and birth order distribution of 187 leprosy cases and 528 hospitalized control patients. By the Greenwood-Yule analysis, a small deficit of cases in the earlier birth order in the tuberculoid form was observed. Such a deficit was not observed in lepromatous leprosy patients. In the multivariate analysis, where socioeconomic factors, current age, and leprosy status of the parents were taken into account, it was found that sibship size becomes a nonsignificant and nonconsistent predictor of leprosy in general or of a particular form of the disease. On the other hand, the logistic analysis supports the impression that tuberculoid leprosy patients belong to the later birth order in both sexes. Although the contrast is statistically nonsignificant in either sex, it suggests that early exposure in life predisposes to the tuberculoid form of leprosy.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1979

Birth order and parental age in microphthalmos and other ocular diseases.

We compared the distribution of birth order and maternal and paternal ages of blind school children throughout Japan with that of the total Japanese population of the corresponding age groups and with that of a subgroup of children with acquired blindness. The number of first-born children with microphthalmos was smaller, and the number of second-, third-, or fourth-born children was larger, as compared with the control groups. The differences were highly statistically significant by chi-square test. There was a less pronounced indication of birth order effect in amblyopia, congenital cataract, and optic nerve atrophy, which involved more first-borns than in the controls. The distribution of maternal age was also different from the control group in microphthalmos, congenital cataract, corneal opacity, and optic nerve atrophy. Less mothers in their 20s and more in their 30s produced children with these conditions. We believe this finding may be partly related to the rapid decline in infant mortality and in the incidence of congenital blindness in Japan.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Age at menarche, family size, and birth order in athletes at the Montreal Olympic Games, 1976.

Age at menarache, family size, and birth order in 145 athletes at the Montreal Olympic Games, 1976, were determined through interview. The athletes represented 27 countries, but 76% came from Canada, Great Britain and the United States. On the average, athletes attained menarche later than the general population in their respective countries, the mean age at menarche for the sample of 139 athletes who had attained menarche at the time of the survey being 13.66 +/- 0.12 years. Six athletes had not yet attained menarche at the time of the survey. Gymnasts, runners and rowers attained menarche significantly later than swimmers, but gymnasts, runners, rowers and jumpers/hurdlers did not differ significantly among themselves in the age at menarche. Correlations between age at menarche and family size and birth order were significant, but low to moderate in magnitude. Athletes from larger families tended to have, on the average, later menarche than those from smaller families, this trend being more apparent in rowers and track and field athletes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Birth order sibship size and socio-economic factors in risk of schizophrenia in Greece.

A case-control study was undertaken to evaluate the effects, if any, of sibship size, birth order and parents' age at birth on the risk of a person's developing schizophrenia. Information was obtained, during an 18-month period, from 221 schizophrenic patients in the only mental-health hospital of the region of Peloponese, Greece, and from an equal number of matched patients. The data were analysed by modelling through logistic regression. No relationship was found between the occurrence of schizophrenia in a patient and either father's or mother's age at patient's birth, or sibship size, or birth order, when demographic and socio-economic variables were accounted for in the analysis. Although patients with schizophrenia were of similar socio-economic status to the comparison patients, they came from families with higher original socio-economic status, a fact which appears to reflect the decline of both schizophrenic and pre-schizophrenic people in the social ladder.

Birth Order↗
PubMed1998

Birth order and sibling sex ratio in homosexual and heterosexual non-white men.

Researchers interested in the development of sexual orientation have investigated predominantly or exclusively White samples. To address this imbalance, the relations between sexual orientation and two biodemographic variables, birth order and sibling sex ratio, were examined in a sample of non-White men. The men (N = 823) were interviewed by investigators at the Kinsey Institute for Sex and Reproduction from 1938 to 1963. A significantly later birth order was observed for non-White homosexual men relative to non-White heterosexual men. Non-White homosexual men also had an elevated sibling sex ratio. Results add to the generalizability of the birth order and sibling sex ratio effects previously observed to occur in (White) homosexual men.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Measles infection, measles vaccination and the effect of birth order in the aetiology of hay fever.

BACKGROUND: It has recently been suggested that measles infection may reduce the risk of atopy. OBJECTIVE: To study the independent effect of measles infection and measles vaccination on the occurrence of hay fever in a British national birth cohort. METHODS: In over 6000 children born in 1970, details of immunizations and childhood diseases were collected by parental interviews at ages 5, 10 and 16 years, and hay fever within the past year at age 16 years. RESULTS: In univariate analysis, hay fever was less common in those contracting measles infection than in those not infected (OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.76-0.96), and more common in those given measles vaccination than in those not vaccinated (OR 1.16, 95% Cl 1.03-1.31). However, these effects were strongly confounded by birth order, which was closely associated with the likelihood of receiving measles vaccination and with the risk of hay fever. A strong interaction between the effects of measles vaccination and infection, and birth order was found, such that in those with many older sibling contacts, hay fever was significantly and independently reduced in relation to both measles infection and measles vaccination relative to those who were neither infected nor vaccinated. CONCLUSIONS: Both measles infection and measles vaccination in childhood appear to reduce the risk of hay fever in children with multiple older sibling contacts. Differential exposure or response to the measles virus may explain the effect of birth order on the occurrence of allergic disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Birth order and sibling sex ratio in two samples of Dutch gender-dysphoric homosexual males.

Two studies were undertaken to confirm the previous findings that homosexual men in general tend to have a later than expected birth order and that extremely feminine homosexual men also tend to have a higher than expected proportion of brothers (i.e., a higher sibling sex ratio). Subjects in Study 1 were Dutch, adult and adolescent, biological male patients with gender dysphoria (persistent and recurrent desires to belong to the opposite sex), who were undergoing treatment with feminizing hormones. These comprised 83 patients who reported sexual attraction to other males (the homosexual group) and 58 who reported sexual attraction to females or equal attraction to males and females (the non-homosexual group). Subjects in Study 2 were Dutch adolescent male patients at another hospital. The homosexual group consisted of 21 gender-dysphoric homosexual teenagers referred to a gender identity clinic for children and adolescents. The control group were 21 adolescent males referred to the child psychiatry department of the same hospital for reasons other than gender identity disorder, homosexuality, or transvestism. These were individually matched to the homosexual subjects on age and sibship size. In both studies, the homosexual group had a significantly later average birth order than the comparison group. In Study 1, the homosexual group had a significantly elevated sibling sex ratio; this was not tested in Study 2 because of its small sample size. These studies add to the mounting evidence that late birth orders are common to all homosexual samples and that elevated sibling sex ratios are an additional characteristic of extremely feminine ones.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Family-size and birth-order in obsessional neurosis.

Family size and birth-order of 156 British-born patients diagnosed as having obsessive-compulsive neurosis were determined from case-notes; these were compared with matched controls. Separate consideration was given to male and female patients. Mean family size of obsessionals was found to be smaller than that of controls. An excess of first-born was found among male obsessional patients.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1984

Evaluation of recurrence risk in siblings of diabetic children: importance of age and birth order in relation to HLA genotypes.

In order to identify factors other than the HLA-linked susceptibility involved in the risk to the siblings of diabetic children, we compared the age at onset, birth order and HLA genotypes in 23 IDD multiplex (Mx) families and 140 simplex (Sx) families. The results showed a relationship between age and recurrence risk in sibs. Probands (= 1st affected sibs) of Mx families were significantly younger at onset (5.8 +/- 0.8 yr) than probands of Sx families (9.0 +/- 0.4 yr, p less than 0.01). The 2nd affected sibs of Mx families, although affected at an older age (12.4 +/- 1.6 yr), had been significantly younger at the time of the proband's onset, than the siblings who have remained unaffected (6.2 +/- 1.2 vs 11.5 +/- 0.5 yr, p less than 0.01). Probands of Mx families were more often the first born and probands of Sx families, more often came later in the birth order (p less than 0.02). Prevalence of IDD was higher among siblings born after than among those born before the proband (12% vs 4%, p less than 0.002). The HLA haplotype distribution in unaffected siblings deviated from the random assortment in relation to birth order, showing an excess of HLA-identical sibs born before the proband and, inversely, an excess of non-identical sibs born after the proband. The results suggest that age-dependent factors are likely to increase the penetrance of HLA-linked IDD susceptibility. These factors could be related to the environmental insult. However, a genetically determined form of type I diabetes characterized by higher familial penetrance and earlier onset cannot be ruled out.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2006

[Birth order, behavioural problems, and the mother-child relationship in siblings aged 4 to 11 years from a 2-child family].

UNLABELLED: Birth Order, Behavioural Problems, and the Mother-Child Relationship in Siblings Aged 4 to 11 Years From a 2-Child Family OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to define the relation between some sibling characteristics (birth order, sex, and interval between successive births) and some behavioral problems in children, on the one hand, and certain dimensions of the mother-child relationship, on the other hand. METHOD: The sample, from National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, included 1,196 families with 2 biological children aged 4 to 11 years. Behavioural problems and dimensions of the mother-child relationship were assessed by mothers. Repeated-measures multivariate analyses of variance were conducted. RESULTS: Analyses showed that first-born children have more internalized symptoms than second-born children. Second-born children also have more positive interactions with their mothers than first-born children. The interval between successive births does not affect these results. CONCLUSION: Several differences emerged between siblings. Health professionals should take these findings into account in their clinical assessments.

Birth Order↗
PubMed1999

Sex ratios, family size, and birth order.

In many countries, the male:female ratio at birth has varied significantly over the past century, but the reasons for these changes have been unclear. The authors observed a close parallel between decreasing family size and declining male:female sex ratio in Denmark from 1960 to 1994. To explain this finding, they examined the sex ratio and birth order of 1,403,021 children born to 700,030 couples. Overall, 51.2% of the first births were male. However, families with boys were significantly more likely than expected to have another boy (biologic heterogeneity). By the fourth birth to families with three prior boys, 52.4% were male. The increase varied directly with the number of prior boys (p for trend = 0.0007). Furthermore, couples with boys were more likely to continue to have children. In summary, the authors found that the declining male:female ratio in Denmark and probably other European populations is mainly attributable to three effects: declining family size, biologic heterogeneity, and child sex preference. Why families with boys are more likely to have additional boys is unknown.

Birth Certificates↗
PubMed1985

Family structure and birth order of patients with anorexia nervosa.

A retrospective case-notes study of 252 patients was undertaken, to focus on their birth order, and other aspects of their sibships. There is little evidence of a relationship to birth order using an established measure (Slater, 1962). Previous researchers have found a preponderance of female siblings in the families of patients with anorexia nervosa. We have not found this, neither is our sample characterised by older or younger siblings of any one sex. This is true for both female and male anorexics. These results are discussed in terms of experimental and family theories concerning the development of anorexia nervosa.

Anorexia Nervosa↗
PubMed1975

[Does there exist a correlation between the number of whorls of the finger tips and birth order of sibs? (author's transl)].

It was stated by Birdsong and Rashad (1972) that the child of birth order number six of Korean families has significantly more true whorls on the finger tips than older brothers and sisters. To verify this assertion we studied a sample of all members of 43 normal German families with 5 or more legitimate children. The findings of the epidermal finger pattern types and those of the toe patterns were analysed. Results indicate a different conclusion regarding the number of digital whorls which were not increased statistically with increasing number of sibs. The number of whorls were randomly distributed within the heritable range of variability of the particular family. It appears of importance that, due to our analyses, the value of information of the characteristic "number of whorls" is not reduced and does not require a specific consideration regarding birth order. Furthermore, it can be stated preliminarly that there is no hint pointing to an influence of the maternal age on the number of whorls in their offspring.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

The effect of chronological and theoretical birth order on sexual attitudes and behaviors.

A survey designed to evaluate the impact that both chronological and theoretical birth order may have on sexual attitudes and behaviors was completed by 441 respondents (221 male, 220 female). The attitudes and behaviors investigated were aggressive sexual behavior, social relationship attitudes, emotional relationship attitudes, total heterosexual behavior, and total orgasmic behavior. The data revealed no difference between male and female in terms of total sexual behavior. However, males had significantly higher sexual aggression, social attitudes, emotional attitudes, and total orgasm scores. These results suggest that while there may be equity between the sexes in terms of heterosexual behavior, there are still significant differences between the sexes in terms of specific behaviors and attitudes. No differences were found on any of the scales based on either chronological or theoretical birth order. These results suggest that sexual behavior and attitudes may be influenced to a greater degree by biological and cohort factors than by sibling position.

Adolescent↗