Sibling and environment correlates of children's achievement: Sex group differences

Abstract

Regression surface analysis was used to examine associations between sibling variables and measures of academic achievement and intellectual ability at different levels of social status and family environment variables for girls and boys. The sample was 460 Anglo‐Australian families, each with an 11‐year‐old child. Family environments were defined by parents’ aspirations for their children and parents’ instrumental and affective orientations. Regression models included terms to account for possible linear, interaction, and curvilinear relations between sib size and birth order and measures of word knowledge, word comprehension, mathematics performance, and intellectual ability. The findings indicated that the sibling variables were poor predictors of children's cognitive performance. Typically, sib size and birth order were not related to children's academic performance at different levels of family environment scores.