Singletons at Risk?
My roommate's psychology textbook says that people without siblings have a slight tendency toward schizophrenia. Is this true? I am a 22-year-old only child, adopted at age 1 by my single mother. I also lived with my grandma, who helped out, but my mom was pretty much the "ruler."
There is a great deal of folklore masquerading as information about only children. The fact is that no studies have ever consistently demonstrated any personality differences between "onlies" and other children. Nor are only children overrepresented among those with diagnosed disorders of any kind. Only children may have a smaller social circle than other kids, but they do have just as many close friends. And they may have a slight intellectual advantage, outscoring others on IQ tests and SATs, although they might be a bit less independent, never having been "dethroned" by a sibling. There was a time when being an only child was so unusual and stigmatized that all kinds of problems were ascribed to it. Development is influenced by many factors other than birth status.
