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Model siblings: Adolescent coping strategies influenced by birth order, study shows

Phys · · 863 words · By Jessica Henderson
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What to know about Model siblings: Adolescent coping strategies influenced by birth order, study shows

Researchers from the University of Delaware and Florida State University studied how birth order and sibling gender influence the coping strategies of adolescents. The findings suggest that while birth order affects coping in mixed-gender sibling pairs, it does not have a significant association in same-gender pairs, leading the authors to advise against making broad assumptions based on these factors alone.

Propaganda risk 0%
Claims checked 11
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center80%
Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Model siblings: Adolescent coping strategies influenced by birth order, study shows Gaby Clark Scientific Editor Andrew Zinin Chief Editor Growing up as the oldest sibling of a younger brother and sister shaped the way University of Delaware associate…

Why it matters

Gordon learned to communicate and cope with challenges.

Common ground

As a single parent, her mother often looked to Gordon to set an example, and over time, she found herself acting as a parental figure.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Researchers from the University of Delaware and Florida State University studied how birth order and sibling gender influence the coping strategies of adolescents. The findings suggest that while birth order affects coping in mixed-gender sibling pairs, it does not have a significant association in same-gender pairs, leading the authors to advise against making broad assumptions based on these factors alone.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-siblings-adolescent-coping-strategies-birth.html

analyticsAnalysis

0%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 100%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 7
verified Verified By Reference 2
schedule Pending 1
help Insufficient Evidence 1
verified
Claim 1: “siblings typically spend about 50% of their time together during early adolescence”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The Wikipedia results provided discuss the definitions of incest, siblings, and sibling relationships generally, but none of them mention a specific statistic that siblings spend 50% of their time together during early adolescence.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Siblings play a unique role in one another's lives that simulates the companionship of parents as well as the influence and assistance of friends. Because siblings often grow up in the same household,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sibling_relationship
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Incest ( IN-sest) is sexual activity between close relatives, such as a sibling or parent. This typically includes any kind of sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and so…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incest
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the other person. A male sibling is a brother, and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some ci…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sibling
verified
Claim 2: “Mellissa S. Gordon is a University of Delaware associate professor”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of general definitions of Large Language Models and unrelated Wikipedia entries about elections and documentaries. There is no mention of Mellissa S. Gordon or the University of Delaware.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 8, 2022, in 36 states and three territories. As most governors serve four-year terms, the last regular gubernatorial elections for all but t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_United_States_gubernatori…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of Overseas Chinese.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_diaspora_peopl…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is an alphabetical list of documentary films with Wikipedia articles. The earliest documentary listed is Fred Ott's Sneeze (1894), which is also the first motion picture ever copyrighted in North…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_documentary_films
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 3: “In a new study published in Behavioral Sciences, CEHD alum Megha Garg, Gordon and her co-author Christine M. Ohannessian of Florida State University examine whether birth order and sibling-gender pairs are significantly associated with adolescents' use of coping strategies.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The claim is directly supported by one web search result from a source titled 'Model siblings: Adolescent coping strategies influenced by birth order...', which matches the details of the study, authors, and journal (Behavioral Sciences). No other independent sources corroborate this.
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web search NEUTRAL — A study published in August in the journal Health communication.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10410236.2022.2…
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web search NEUTRAL — STUDYING ABROAD in the UK: university of birmingham, busy classes & daily life, decorating my dorm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcVah1yY9l0
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web search NEUTRAL — In a new study published in Behavioral Sciences, CEHD alum Megha Garg, Gordon and her co-author Christine M. Ohannessian of Florida State University examine whether birth order and sibling-gender pair…
https://www.soz6.com/news/model-siblings-adolescent-coping-s…
info
Claim 4: “When the adolescent and their sibling were in a same-gender pair, birth order was not associated with their use of any of the coping strategies addressed in the study.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence from 'UDaily' mentions that birth order played a role in mixed-gender pairs, which implies it did not in same-gender pairs, but the specific wording of the claim is not explicitly mirrored in the snippets provided. However, it aligns with the context of the 'Model siblings' study reported in a single source.
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web search NEUTRAL — But birth order did play a role when the adolescent and their sibling were in a mixed-gender pair. In these cases, being older than the sibling increased the likelihood of the adolescents’ use of copi…
https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2026/august/birth-order-coping-s…
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web search NEUTRAL — This research examines the emotional distress, negative thoughts, and coping strategies of adults who lost a sibling during the tragic events of October 7, 2023, focusing on how gender, birth order, a…
https://austfhu.org.au/how-gender-loss-circumstances-and-bir…
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web search NEUTRAL — This study used data of 451 adolescent sibling pairs from the Iowa Youth and Families Project to investigate the associations between school engagement and achievement in siblings by considering gende…
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329759018_School_En…
schedule
Claim 5: “Megha Garg et al, Parent–Adolescent Communication, Siblings and Adolescent Coping Strategies, Behavioral Sciences (2026). DOI: 10.3390/bs16071163”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info
Claim 6: “After analyzing data from nearly 1,500 adolescents in the Northeast, they found that birth order and sibling gender affected an adolescent's use of coping strategies”
SINGLE SOURCE
The claim is directly supported by a web search result from 'UDaily' mentioning the analysis of nearly 1,500 adolescents in the Northeast and the findings regarding birth order and sibling gender. Other results are irrelevant.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Northeast China (Chinese: 东北; pinyin: Dōngběi) is a geographical region of China, consisting officially of the provinces Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang. The heartland of the region is the Northeast…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_China
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Philippa Northeast (born 23 September 1994) is an Australian actress, known for her role as Evelyn MacGuire in the soap opera Home and Away from 2013 until 2017. After leaving Home and Away, Northeast…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippa_Northeast
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal direction…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Points_of_the_compass
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 7: “But birth order did play a role when the adolescent and their sibling were in a mixed-gender pair. In these cases, being older than the sibling increased the likelihood of an adolescent's use of coping strategies”
SINGLE SOURCE
The claim is directly supported by the 'UDaily' web search result, which states that in mixed-gender pairs, being older increased the likelihood of using coping strategies.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Older siblings in this role often positioned their younger sibling as a partner or collaborator. Second, there were many times when the older sibling acted as a "lead engineer" on the project—clearly …
https://phys.org/news/2026-09-sibling-interactions-untapped-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Sibling warmth or affection between male siblings has been correlated to some more negative effects.It is the role of the older brother to be a positive influence on the development of the younger bro…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother
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web search NEUTRAL — For example, they anticipated older siblings would report using coping strategies more often than younger siblings. They also expected that siblings in same-gender pairs would use them more often than…
https://www.soz6.com/news/model-siblings-adolescent-coping-s…
info
Claim 8: “But when the adolescent was the younger sibling, there was no association with the adolescent's use of any of the three coping strategies.”
SINGLE SOURCE
Similar to claim 6, the evidence provided from 'UDaily' discusses the researchers' expectations rather than the final results for younger siblings. It is associated with the single source study but not explicitly verified in the snippet.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Yet, the potential value of sibling support has been understudied. The present study examined whether perceived sibling support was associated with self-esteem, life satisfaction, hope, and adaptive c…
https://chopiklab.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/lindellnutt…
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web search NEUTRAL — A positive association between problem solving oriented strategies (planning, active coping) and depressive symptoms was not observed until age 17.5, after which the magnitude of the association stren…
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283789510_Coping_Me…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — For example, they anticipated older siblings to report using coping strategies more often than younger siblings. They also expected that siblings in same-gender pairs would use them more often than th…
https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2026/august/birth-order-coping-s…
help
Claim 9: “Brittany Zakszeski, an assistant professor specializing in school psychology in CEHD's School of Education”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found for this claim in the provided search results.
info
Claim 10: “Sibling gender was also associated with the type of coping strategy that an adolescent used—active coping... distraction coping... or problem-solving coping”
SINGLE SOURCE
The claim is directly supported by the web search result 'Model siblings: Adolescent coping strategies influenced by birth...', which explicitly lists active coping and distraction coping in relation to sibling gender.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Sibling gender was also associated with the type of coping strategy that an adolescent used—active coping (a deliberate effort to remove or cope with a stressful situation), distraction coping (an eff…
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-siblings-adolescent-coping-str…
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web search NEUTRAL — Distraction, Problem-Solving, and Depressive Symptoms. Few studies have focused on adaptive responses to negative mood among youth.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2848704/
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web search NEUTRAL — This research explores the gender differences and similarities in coping strategies among adolescents, with a focus on the interrelationships between coping methods and health-related variables.
https://www.academia.edu/23290276/Gender_Differences_and_Sim…
info
Claim 11: “The team found that, when the adolescent was the older sibling, being in a same-gender pair decreased the likelihood of active and problem-focused coping strategies.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence from 'UDaily' mentions the researchers' *anticipations* (that same-gender pairs would use strategies more often), but the snippet does not explicitly confirm the final *finding* that same-gender pairs decreased the likelihood for older siblings. It is likely from the same study, but the snippet provided is incomplete.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — For example, they anticipated older siblings to report using coping strategies more often than younger siblings. They also expected that siblings in same-gender pairs would use them more often than th…
https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2026/august/birth-order-coping-s…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Problem-focused coping is generally assumed to beat emotion-focused coping, and they point out there is also evidence for the reverse. Suppressing the expression of an emotion is widely treated as the…
https://scienceblog.com/jcb-coping-strategies-uniform-effica…
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web search NEUTRAL — Experiential Avoidance Can Be a Coping Strategy That Causes PTSD.
https://www.verywellmind.com/avoidance-coping-and-stress-413…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.