Charlotte Reimelt1, Nicole Wolff1, Heike Hölling2, Sabine Mogwitz1, Stefan Ehrlich3,4, Julia Martini1,5, Veit Roessner1. 1. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany. 2. Department of Epidemiology and Health Monitoring, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany. 3. Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany. 4. Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Eating Disorder Research and Treatment Center, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany. 5. Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Abstract
Objective: The associations of birth order, number of siblings, and ADHD was examined. Method: The analysis based on representative, epidemiological data from the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) study (N = 13,488). Results: An increased risk for ADHD in firstborn versus youngest born children (odds ratio [OR] = 1.31, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.09, 1.58]) and also versus children with no sibling (OR = 1.31, 95% CI [1.03, 1.68]) was revealed, while number of siblings was not associated with ADHD. Results remained stable after controlling for confounders. Conclusion: Firstborn children may receive simultaneously less parental resources and more responsibilities if younger siblings are born. This happens during the vulnerable developmental period of ADHD. In addition, due to higher levels of insecurity, parents are assumed to focus more on potential physical or psychological abnormities in their firstborn children. This may result in a diagnostic bias in firstborn children.
Objective: The associations of birth order, number of siblings, and ADHD was examined. Method: The analysis based on representative, epidemiological data from the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) study (N = 13,488). Results: An increased risk for ADHD in firstborn versus youngest born children (odds ratio [OR] = 1.31, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.09, 1.58]) and also versus children with no sibling (OR = 1.31, 95% CI [1.03, 1.68]) was revealed, while number of siblings was not associated with ADHD. Results remained stable after controlling for confounders. Conclusion: Firstborn children may receive simultaneously less parental resources and more responsibilities if younger siblings are born. This happens during the vulnerable developmental period of ADHD. In addition, due to higher levels of insecurity, parents are assumed to focus more on potential physical or psychological abnormities in their firstborn children. This may result in a diagnostic bias in firstborn children.
Authors: Bo-Yi Yang; Xiao-Wen Zeng; Iana Markevych; Michael S Bloom; Joachim Heinrich; Luke D Knibbs; Shyamali C Dharmage; Shao Lin; Pasi Jalava; Yuming Guo; Bin Jalaludin; Lidia Morawska; Yang Zhou; Li-Wen Hu; Hong-Yao Yu; Yunjiang Yu; Guang-Hui Dong Journal: JAMA Netw Open Date: 2019-12-02