Birth Order and health: major issues
Elliott, B.A.
Social Science and Medicine 35(4): 443-452
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0277-9536 PMID: 1519097 DOI: 10.1016/0277-9536(92)90337-pDocument Number: 325125
Birth Order has been described as a variable with a complex relationship to child and adult outcomes. A review of the medical literature over the past 5 years identified 20 studies that investigated the relationship between Birth Order and a health outcome. Only one of the studies established a relationship between Birth Order and a health outcome: third and fourth-born children have a higher incidence of accidents that result in hospitalization. The other demonstrated relationships are each explained by intervening variables or methodological limitations. Although Birth Order is not a strongly independent explanatory factor in understanding health outcomes, it is an important marker variable. Statistically significant relationships between Birth Order and health outcomes yield insights into the ways a family influences an individual's health.