Does growing without brothers and sisters impact the construction of the personality? What are the consequences of an overly exclusive link with their parents? The responses of Catherine Salinier, pediatrician.
The only child has the advantage of having his parents for himself, but can not know the joys of siblings alter his personal development? According to Catherine Salinier, “There is no one -child syndromenor of type psychological profile“, because each child is characterized by his experience, his character, his education or even by the opening of his parents to the outside. In addition,”We can be “unique” only for a time, for example when we are the first child in a family“, She adds.
What impact on the personality of a only child?
If The only child Can sometimes have difficulty facing conflicts or imposing themselves in the face of others, these brakes are generally lifted in school, “micro-company that allows children to teach to find their place in a group, as much as siblings could do so“, Specifies Catherine Salinier. These complications can also be compensated by the social ties woven by the family. If the child goes to the crèche from an early age or if he frequents cousins or children of friends, to build contacts and to make friends beyond the family sphere will be much easier for him. The fact of being one can also have advantages: Within a siblings, we are faced with jealousy or comparison. This is not the case of the only child who therefore has greater esteem of him. “”I was able to observe in my practice that unique children are often safer from them“Confirm the pediatrician before specifying”that they are the object of a lot of attention because parents’ love is not shared between several brothers and sisters“”. However, too exclusive to parents can have harmful consequences. For Catherine Salinier, “It is better to avoid forming a “three -to -three couple” and being on an equality plan: on the one hand, there must be the couple, on the other the child who remains in their place as a child. If the latter is too included in the couple, it will be too “adult”, hence a confusion of roles“.
Is the only child overprotected?
Only childhood education will depend on the reasons why parents have not had other children. Sometimes some parents are in regret and tend to overwhelm their only child – their only object of love – which can then feel a heavy load on him. He can concentrate the hopes and expectations of his parents, and the fear of disappointing them is all the greater. Parents must realize the pressure of excessive ambition and the too big stake that they can put on their offspring. Conversely, other parents are more tolerant and much less demanding. The child is so sure to please them that he does not feel the slightest pressure. Finally, the only child who evolves in a world of adults can, in some cases, grow too quickly by dint of taking part in conversations which are not of his age. “”He is certainly less in the carelessness of childhood“, confirms the pediatrician. Conversely, some parents may tend not to give it enough autonomy. “It is often the arrival of a baby that makes it possible to grow the elder and to empower him. Parents are occupied by a smaller child and the elder must manage on its own more often“, Explains Catherine Salinier. Parents must therefore take care to let the only child overemps according to his age and not to attend it too much. They will be able to refer to the autonomy of children of the same age in their entourage (children of friends, cousins, etc.).
Are unique children narcissistic?
According to a well -established received idea, the unique children would be capricious and self -centered. A study, entitled “The end of a stereotype” and conducted in September 2019 with 200 German adults, reveals that unique children are not more narcissistic than those who have brothers and sisters. Another Chinese study, published in May 2017 in the journal Science Alert, advised that unique children were more flexible regarding their way of thinking, and that they had a greater volume of gray matter in the brain area associated with language, imagination and planning. Conversely, these unique children had a less significant amount of gray matter in the area linked to emotions … Finally, scientists have noted any major difference with regard to the intellectual quotient between unique children and children members of a siblings.
