Healthy development thanks to older siblings

Older siblings may reduce the likelihood that their younger brothers or sisters develop behavioural problems. Federica Amici Older siblings may reduce the likelihood that their younger brothers or sisters develop behavioural problems. Federica Amici - If expectant mothers are exposed to stress their child can develop behavioural problems - but this is less often the case for children with siblings During the first years of their lives, children develop the cognitive, social and emotional skills that will provide the foundations for their lifelong health and achievements. However, exposure to environmental stressors during critical periods of life can have negative long-term consequences for their development. One of the most critical stressors for children is maternal stress, which is known to have a detrimental effect on children's health and well-being, already in utero. In a new study, a Leipzig-based team of researchers including scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig University, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research used longitudinal data from the LINA (Lifestyle and environmental factors and their Influence on the Newborn Allergy risk) cohort to test 373 German mother-child pairs, from pregnancy until ten years of age. Mothers were asked to fill in three validated questionnaires, to assess their stress levels and their child's behavioural problems.