Sibling Effects on School Achievement: Evidence From Two Large French Cohorts

Abstract We studied the effect of the number and characteristics of siblings (sex, age) on school achievement in several grades (kindergarten, first grade, and fifth grade), in two large French cohorts, with more than 16,000 children. Running linear mixed‐effects models, we find that, independently of socioeconomic status, having more siblings is negatively associated with school achievement. We found a stronger negative association between the number of siblings and the achievement in older compared to younger siblings. This finding is in line with the resource dilution model, where families with more children have fewer resources available per child, but contradicts the confluence model (i.e., a child's intellectual ability is influenced by the average intellectual ability in the family). The negative association between the number of siblings and achievement was moderated by family income, with weaker effects in wealthier families.

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Publication Details

Journal
Mind Brain and Education
Published
2024-08-29
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12427
Primary Topic
Parental Involvement in Education
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Sibling Effects on School Achievement: Evidence From Two Large French Cohorts

Franck Ramus, Hugo Peyre, Jean‐Paul Fischer, Jean Écalle et al.
Mind Brain and Education
Parental Involvement in Education
article

Sibling Effects on School Achievement: Evidence From Two Large French Cohorts

Franck Ramus, Hugo Peyre, Jean‐Paul Fischer, Jean Écalle, Lilas Gurgand
article en

Abstract

Abstract We studied the effect of the number and characteristics of siblings (sex, age) on school achievement in several grades (kindergarten, first grade, and fifth grade), in two large French cohorts, with more than 16,000 children. Running linear mixed‐effects models, we find that, independently of socioeconomic status, having more siblings is negatively associated with school achievement. We found a stronger negative association between the number of siblings and the achievement in older compared to younger siblings. This finding is in line with the resource dilution model, where families with more children have fewer resources available per child, but contradicts the confluence model (i.e., a child's intellectual ability is influenced by the average intellectual ability in the family). The negative association between the number of siblings and achievement was moderated by family income, with weaker effects in wealthier families.

Mind Brain and EducationVol. 18(4)
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Inserm (FR), Université de Montpellier (FR), Laboratoire d’Étude des Mécanismes Cognitifs (FR), Maison des Sciences sociales et des Humanités - Lyon St-Étienne (FR), École Normale Supérieure (BI), Centre de recherche en Epidémiologie et Santé des Populations (FR), Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et Psycholinguistique (FR), Laboratoire lorrain de psychologie et neurosciences de la dynamique des comportements, Université de Lorraine (FR), École des hautes études en sciences sociales (FR), Center for Autism and Related Disorders (US)
Agence Nationale de la Recherche
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Openalex Percentile: Top 80%
Parental Involvement in Education
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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