Children who have older sisters have better language skills than those with older brothers, according to a study in Psychological Science. Researchers analyzed data from a French cohort study, which followed children and their mothers from before birth through age 11. The researchers assessed the language skills of 1,276 children in the study, including 547 who had older brothers or sisters, at ages 2, 3, and 5 to 6. On average, children with older sisters had better language skills than those who didn’t. However, children with older sisters had better language skills than those with older brothers, Further, the language skills of children with older sisters were no better or worse than those of children with no older siblings. No effects of the size of the age difference between siblings were observed. (Monitor on Psychology)

Susie Bean Gives