Piggy in the middle child gets best of both worlds

Contrary to popular belief the middle child is NOT the most hard done by, in fact they get the best of both worlds - switching between being a younger or older sibling when it suits them.

That's according to research from a leading academic in sibling relationships to be presented at the first conference to bring experts on brother and sister relationships together.

The conference, hosted by the Family and Parenting Institute on Wednesday (April 30, 2008), brings together the top experts in the brother and sister business in an attempt to redress the balance of family policy which so far has concentrated on the parent-child relationship, neglecting the importance of brothers and sisters.

Mary MacLeod, Chief Executive of the Family and Parenting Institute, who chairs the conference said: "Ask anyone who was important to them in childhood and brothers and sisters will be a big part of the story. Our brothers and sisters are for life and our relationship with them is a powerful mixture of love, rivalry, support, resentment and protectiveness. We've understood this in fiction and in clinical practice but there's been little research on the role of brothers and sisters in child development."

The "piggy in the middle" child is one of the discussions at Wednesday's conference. Experts in the field will also look at how brothers and sisters can affect mum and dad's relationship, and, how the sharing, fighting, arguing and teaching each other can help us develop the skills we need when we are adults.

"How well brothers and sisters get on affects the whole family and can strain the relationship between Mum and Dad. How many times have you heard parents ask how can they stop the children fighting with each other? We need to know more about how siblings attachments can buffer children from the effects of unhappiness and parental stress; how they are seen to make and break stepfamilies; and we need to know more about how to support these relationships and how to help when they are troubled," concluded Mary MacLeod.

April 2008