Here is the next in the series I have written on life stages of the only child. Previous ones are: Infancy; Early School Years and Adolescence. We saw that adolescence is characterised by forming an identity, separate from parent ideals and expectations. Young adulthood is characterised by achieving some degree of intimacy through relationships, as opposed to remaining in isolation. Children with siblings spend more time together and relatively little time alone, thus giving them many opportunities to be with another human being of a similar age and stage. (it is believed approximately 33% of the day siblings interact with one another). This is very different for the only-child who has probably spent their 33% of time on their own, playing with toys, imaginary friends or pets. Whilst this gives them useful experience of being alone and finding ways to amuse themselves, the detrimental side is that it is not [...]
