5. Number of Siblings, Sibling Spacing, Sex and Birth Order: Their Effects of Perceived Parent-Adolescent Relationships by Jeannie Kidwell
Date: 1981
Based on this research, age spacing influences mental condition, especially when it comes to the first child. In this case, participants showed a negative view of both themselves and their parents once a sibling was born as long as the older child was at least two years old. On the other hand, siblings younger than that, don’t really notice a new sibling. For an age gap of more than four years old, kids didn’t seem to be affected.