Middle child syndrome, a “syndrome” developed by pop culture, describes the overshadowing of middle children by their older and younger siblings. The syndrome is deemed a “hypothetical condition” by the American Psychological Association, given the lack of empirical evidence supporting it. Middle child syndrome alleges that children who are in the middle of the birth order of their family develop outcast, rebellious personalities as a result of more attention going to the cuter younger sibling or the authoritative older sibling. 

The syndrome is composed of many common characteristics, such as being independent, attention-seeking, and feeling distanced from parents. It also is well-known for its exaggerated stereotypes, including middle children being the “forgotten child,” and having an inferiority complex. Experts have looked further into whether birth order has an influence on personality, and have found that middle children are more likely to have trouble with wrongdoing and are less family-oriented. Birth-order may also have effects on mental health, with higher birth order being associated with poorer mental health. 

Since middle child syndrome is a “hypothetical condition,” and is full of uncertainties concerning the negative characteristics of middle children, it can be hard to foresee how being a middle child can affect a child. However, given the commonality of middle child experiences, it can be worth it to check in on their mental health, and to try therapy if they are experiencing any of the characteristics of middle child syndrome. Overall, empirical evidence suggests that the effects of being a middle child may be minimal, but they are still worth paying attention to.  

Kylie Robinshaw

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

Article Link: https://psychcentral.com/health/middle-child-syndrome

Tapping into your inner child when playing with children can be difficult, but studies have shown that being playful with children promotes their imagination. 

Play can be a way for caregivers to connect with their children, given that play is treated as a balanced exchange of ideas between caregiver and child, rather than solely the parent or child leading it. When treated as a brainstorm session rather than an obligation, play allows both the caregiver and child to have fun and enjoy each other’s presence. One practical play rule, especially for adults who may struggle with imaginative play, is the improv “Yes, And…” rule. 

The “Yes, And…” rule involves caregivers engaging with the child’s ideas and adding onto them logically. For example, if a child says that you live in a castle, you could engage them by saying “Yes! My castle is full of diamond crowns and is protected by mighty knights.” An important exception for the “Yes… And” rule, nonetheless, is that it does not need to exceed set boundaries; caregivers, of course, do not always need to say yes to children. The “Yes… And” strategy is simple and effective in that caregivers who use it are able to participate in and prolong their child’s playtime with no planning needed. Further, the “Yes… And” rule boosts creativity and imagination in children. 

Overall, using the “Yes… And” rule is an important tool that can be used to help caregivers and children connect and bond over laughter-filled play.

Kylie Robinshaw

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

Article Link: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/play-your-way-sane/202210/how-turn-playing-children-childs-play

It’s no secret that there is a gender disparity in the STEM field, with men making up a wide majority of STEM employees; part of this disparity can be accounted for by the stereotype that women are not good at science. However, a recent study has found that girls may find motivation to study and partake in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields when they pretend to be a female scientist. 

Researchers Reut Shachnai, Tamar Kushnir and Lin Bian studied 240 four to seven-year-olds to investigate if acting like successful role models is valuable for children. They used a between-groups design, randomly assigning the children to one of three conditions. Children put in the baseline group played a science game and hypothesized whether an object would float or sink in water. Children in the exposure group played the same game, but were told about an accomplished scientist of their gender before the game started. The researchers chose scientists Marie Curie for the girl participants and Isaac Newton for the boy participants, as they believed that the kids would be unfamiliar with them. Kids in the roleplay group were given the task to roleplay as the gender-matched scientists (Marie Curie or Isaac Newton), and were referred to as Dr. Curie or Dr. Isaac. 

The children were prompted to play another round of the game after they finished, and it was found that boys in each condition were motivated to continue playing, with an overall average of 14 rounds. Average rounds played differed for girls in each of the experimental groups, with girls in the baseline group completing five rounds, girls in the exposure group completing nine rounds, and girls in the roleplay group completing twelve rounds. The results of this study show that when reminded of or prompted to act like successful female scientists, girls are able to mentally distance themselves from their stereotypes and therefore may be more motivated to partake in STEM activities. 

Overall, enacting successful figures can help girls persist against the stereotype that they are not good at STEM activities.  The researchers highlight that it’s important to have children roleplay as role models whose appearances and backgrounds they are unaware of, as knowingly role playing as someone different than them can produce very different results regarding motivation. This research may be extended to how representation is taught in schools, and suggests that representation may need to be taken further as children benefit more from performing role model actions instead of just learning about them. 

Kylie Robinshaw

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

Article Link: https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/news-release/2022-sept-girls-roleplay-science.html

Today’s Friday Feature is Kylie Robinshaw!

Kylie Robinshaw is a research assistant at UConn KIDS. She is a junior at the University of Connecticut and is pursuing a B.A. in Psychological Sciences and a minor in Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies. After she graduates, she plans on going to graduate school to become a school psychologist. Kylie is excited to learn about research and recruitment processes and looks forward to spending a great semester with UConn KIDS!

Kylie has a passion for working with kids, and has been employed in child-care facilities, whether that be summer camp or after-school programs, for 3 years. Recently, she spent her summer as an Inclusion Camp Counselor, working one-on-
one with children with Down Syndrome and autism.

In her spare time, Kylie enjoys going to the gym, learning K-pop dance routines, reading fantasy novels, and spending time with her pets! Fun fact: Kylie has 4 golden retrievers and a cat! On campus, you can find Kylie working at UConn’s Child Labs, dining in Whitney, and visiting the cows at Horsebarn Hill!

The coronavirus pandemic has provided the world with a socially challenging environment. Amidst quarantine and the fear of getting sick, many people witnessed their in-person interactions with others dwindle for the sake of their own health. According to a recent study, adults are not the only ones struggling with talking to others; babies are too. 

Researchers compared babies who were born pre-pandemic to babies who were born in the course of the pandemic and found that the latter had more issues with speech. Babies who were born during the pandemic struggled with turn-taking in conversations and with babbling. The researchers suggested that parents of babies born during the pandemic may be talking less with their babies as a result of COVID-19 stress, but reassure parents that this problem is fixable. 

One method the researchers suggested to promote baby vocalizations is to use serve-and-volley interactions. Serve-and-volley interactions are a turn-taking-based strategy in which parents keep an eye on what motivates their baby and respond to it. For example, if a baby is looking at a pig stuffed animal, the parent can pick up the pig and make pig noises (“oink oink”). This encourages the baby to keep playing with the pig and allows the volley to continue. Serve-and-volley interactions therefore can be used practically in any environment a baby is in, as long as parents center on what motivates their baby. An important aspect of engaging with speech-and-volley interactions is to make sure to consistently and immediately respond to a baby’s motivations and vocalizations, as babies are sensitive as to what goes around in their environment. 

Speech-and-volley interactions contribute to brain development and enhance a baby’s language and learning. They are also useful with older children, helping them improve their focus, attention and academic success. Overall, speech-and-volley interactions are a convenient and constructive tool that parents can use to help build their children’s speech and learning abilities.  

Kylie Robinshaw

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

Article Link: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/smart-families/202209/babies-babbles-and-beyond-serve-and-volley-infants

Children are impacted by their environments around them, with new research findings surrounding how physical environments of chaos can impact a child’s mental health.

Research regarding how children’s physical environments impact them originated from Urie Bronfenbrenner’s theory on classic ecological systems, which centers on how people interact with and are affected by their environments. Bronfenbrenner’s theory inspired developmental and environmental psychologist, Gary W. Evans, to study how household chaos affects children. Evans has defined chaos as “noise, crowding, disorder, and instability.” Studies on chaos date back to the 1970s, with many focusing on themes of auditory and visual chaos.

Auditory chaos can have impacts on children’s ability to think, learn and focus. A study from 1975 found that children whose classrooms were near a train track had lower standardized test scores than their peers whose classrooms weren’t near the track. Other studies regarding the effect of auditory noise on children have found that children who live near airports have cognitive deficits and higher levels of stress. One study that studied noise in schools found that children’s background noise in urban high schools are two to three times more than the recommended limit.

The visual conditions of children’s environments, in and out of school, also impact a child’s development. Studies have found that children who grow up in houses that are in poor condition (e.g., houses that need repairs) experience emotional and behavioral problems as well as difficulty with math and reading. Further, children whose classrooms are decorative, but visually distracting had a tougher time focusing and being able to concentrate on their work in comparison to children in classrooms with less posters and artwork.

Studies have also focused on aspects of environments that benefit a child’s development, with some centering on the advantages of living near a green space. Children who have more access to green spaces, like parks and fields, had lower levels of behavioral and attention issues. It has also been found that children who live near green spaces displayed less aggressive behaviors and had higher IQ scores.

Overall, psychology has built a strong foundation for demonstrating the impact that physical environments have on children. Developmental and environmental psychology studies have shown that a child’s environment can impact their behavior and overall learning experience. Parents and educators alike can take these studies into consideration when producing and evaluating child environments.

Kylie Robinshaw

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

Article Link: https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/growing-places

Our culture’s youth has adapted an extreme perfectionist habit, with many children sacrificing sleep and over-stressing in order to receive an A in school. School environments have become places of comparison, with students nowadays evaluating themselves based on their peers’ accomplishments. This consistent comparison between students can lead to students becoming maladaptive perfectionists, stressing themselves out to the point of exhaustion in order to receive the best grade in their class. Today, 3 out of 10 children can be considered a “maladaptive perfectionist” because their drives for extreme perfectionism are harming their mental health. Research has found that youth who are high in perfectionism evaluate themselves negatively, but deem it a necessary component to their academic performance. This harmful self-appraisal is reinforced when people praise them for their academic success, and results in children downplaying their own accomplishments instead of celebrating them. 

Lately, students have been feeling more obligated to achieve outstanding academic performance due to the rate at which college admissions have been growing more selective. This has led some parents, out of concern for their children’s academic future, to increase the pressure they put on their children in school. However, it has been found that high parental expectations can be just as harmful as criticism, as this pressure may push children towards high levels of perfectionism. Students who become maladaptive perfectionists may experience exhaustion, anxiety, and a loss of motivation as a result of their own and their parents’ high expectations for themselves. 

At the end of the day, it is never a bad thing for children to hold themselves to a healthy and reasonable academic standard. Children who engage more in school have been found to have more positive interactions with others. To combat maladaptive perfectionism, the author discourages students from using a perfectionist view, and instead suggests that they should focus on building resilience. This can be done through the help of parents, schools and communities, as they can encourage children to practice self-care and resilience all the while setting reasonable standards for themselves. 

Kylie Robinshaw

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

Article Link: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brave-voices/202209/is-our-culture-overachievement-exhausting-our-youth