The InterpersonalSkills of Children Without Siblings

Many parents maythink that each new sibling（兄弟姐妹）offers their children the gift of companionship.But while we tend tothink that siblings teach one another conflict

resolution and otherinterpersonal skills,new research says they are no better off socially thanchildren without siblings.

"Most studieslook at the negative consequences of having siblings in terms of educationaloutcome,"said Donna Bobbitt-Zeher,lead author of Good for Nothing?Numberof

Siblings and FriendshipNominations Among Adolescents."But we decided to look at social skills tosee if there was any other possible benefit to having brothers or

sisters."Sheand her co-author,Douglas Downey are sociologists at OhioState's Marion campus,and neither is an onlychild.They presented their findings at the annual

meeting of theAmerican Sociological Association in August.

The paper is inlarge part a reply to a previous study,Playing Well With Others inKindergarten:The Benefits of Siblings at Home,also co-authored by Dr.Downey,which

found thatkindergarten teachers rated children without siblings worse in interpersonalskills,self-control and problem behaviors.

But an only childisn't necessarily a loner and misfit.First,the social advantages found in childrenwith siblings in the kindergarten study were quite modest.Second,the study

relied on teacherevaluations,and teachers may not be reliable judges of friendships among theircharges.

And now it seemsthat any benefits documented in kindergarten disappear altogether by middleschool. Using a metric called"peer nomination（提名）",Dr. Downey and Dr.

Bobbitt Zeher foundthat children without siblings had just as many friends as,children withsiblings.

"I see the twostudies as a natural progression,showing what happens to the only children whodidn't have much interaction before kindergarten,"Dr. Downey said.Another

study he is workingon shows that the same only children evaluated in kindergarten had caught up byfifth grade.

While the studiesdon't examine the cause for the disappearing social boost to kindergartnerswith siblings,Dr. Downey speculates that continuing school,youth clubs and

other groupactivities一especially inan era of overscheduled children一provide sufficientopportunity for onlys to sharpen their skills.Kindergartenteachers' evaluation may be________.

A.helpful to improvethe only childrens' social skills

B.better than theonly childrens'

C.beneficial tochildren in any other ways

D.complete

E.unfair