Declining family size plus the widespread belief that only children experience adjustment difficulties provided the impetus for this investigation comparing the characteristics of only children with children raised in multiple-sibling families. Results indicated that being reared as an only child actually provided a slight developmental advantage…

This study focuses on the effects of family size and spacing on intellectual, social, and personality development of children. The sample consisted of 533 suburban, middle class, large family (five or more) and small two child family children. The children, 233 boys and 300 girls, were teenagers attending either junior or senior high school.…