The reaction of firstborn children to a sibling before the birth: the role of the time at which they are told about the mother’s pregnancy and their effortful control

Abstract

Objectives: The reaction of firstborns to the impending arrival of a sibling has received little attention from family psychologists. The present study examined whether firstborns’ positive feelings about their sibling before the birth were related to the time at which they were told about the mother’s pregnancy and their effortful control, which was defined as the self-regulatory ability to inhibit a dominant response to perform a subdominant response. The goal of this research was to provide preliminary evidence in the social context of the two-child policy in China.

Methods: The sample included 52 Chinese parents and their firstborns when mothers were in their third trimester of pregnancy with their second child. Data were obtained by means of observation and parent-reported questionnaires.

Results: Firstborn children who were told earlier in their mothers’ pregnancy were more likely to have positive feelings about their sibling before the birth. In addition, firstborns’ effortful control was positively associated with positive feelings about a sibling before the birth. Last, firstborns’ effortful control moderated the association between the time at which they were told and positive feelings about the sibling before the birth. Specifically, only when firstborns had low levels of effortful control, being told later about the pregnancy, was related to lower levels of positive feelings about the sibling.

Conclusions: Findings enhanced our understanding of how parents’ preparation and firstborns’ individual characteristics may have a role on firstborns’ positive adjustment before the birth of a sibling.

Keywords:

• Birth of a sibling
• effortful control
• parental preparation
• China